Harrow
by Mewrlise
Summary: Harrow Path: Sometimes justice doesn't win and that is an uncomfortable truth to most. Then again, what is justice? Amoral, selfish and bored SI-OC. "What is life without some entertainment?" What did fate have in store for the Yagami twins?
1. Rebirth

**The road to Hell is paved with good intentions**

 **~however~**

 **The road to Heaven is paved with tragedy**

 **(Which do you chose?)**

* * *

The are several people in this world. Thus, it is only natural for there to be several personalities out there.

Several reactions to the same incident.

In the case of a child's birth, one might feel overjoyed, sad, distressed, relieved, excited, disappointed, scared and so on.

In Sachiko and Soichiro Yagami's case, the day of February twenty-eight will forever be marked as a day full of joy. As gods blessed them with a pair of healthy twins.

Hope and Light were truly the best possible names to sum up their emotions from that day.

 **•**

'Such a terribly boring world,' she thought, staring at the sky. 'They could have at least let me be reborn in a more interesting place,' _how ungrateful_.

"Hmm, I should leave in twenty minutes—aah," she yawned, blinking slowly, very much imitating a lounging cat.

' _Everything is so repetitive._ '

 **•**

"Nee~chan, oy, _nee~chan_ , are you even paying atten—ouch!" the youngest Yagami loudly complained, as her cheeks were stretched out by her older sister.

"You really need to learn to be more patient Sayu," Hope teased, releasing the girl's cheeks and lightly pinching the girl's nose when she pouted.

"Stop teasing your sister and help me set the table Hope," their mother berated.

"Make Light help out too," the older girl moaned, going to help nevertheless, sticking out her tongue playfully at Sayu when said girl did the same and pulled at her lower eyelid.

"Unlike you, I am much more mature and responsible," said boy said as he came in the kitchen, flicking Hope's forehead as he passed her on his way to sitting down.

"Yeah, yeah. You might have everyone fooled with your goody-two-shoes act; but I've know you since _conception_ ," Hope said, grinning at him as she took her own seat after placing the last plate on the table.

"Honestly you two," Sachiko said, shaking her head in exasperation, a fond look on her face nevertheless as she looked at her children.

"Stop giving your mother trouble," Soichiro said, arriving in the kitchen, fixing his tie as he walked.

 **•**

"Listen for the voice of god and never guess your will…" the teacher droned on in english, his accent obvious. Though that was just her being mean.

"I haven't done anything but he said that he wanted to split up with me," a pair of girls were gossiping. 'I know this is boring but you could at least have the respect to be quiet. If not for the teacher at least for the rest of us not interested in your gravel,' she thought in irritation, sighing at the pointlessness of it all.

"Yagami-kun, is there anything wrong? Can you translate the previous sentence in Japanese please," the teacher's voice called and she couldn't help but jump to alert. After all, there were two of them in this class and the teachers had a habit of not differentiating between them.

For a moment both her and Light were quiet, trying to gauge which one of them their teacher was referring to.

Not that it mattered much. They were both equally bored with the whole thing and equally able to do as instructed. Light turned around for a fraction, making eye contact with her as she shrugged. It made no difference either way.

Sighing, the boy got up, posture perfect, book in hand and he did what he was instructed, his voice carrying out throughout the class in flawless Japanese. 'As expected of my brother,' she thought, leaning on her desk, eye going back to looking outside. 'I wonder if it will ever show up.'

 **•**

They walked back home together, as they did each day. Taking the same route. Walking by the same places. Seeing the same faces that were usually out at this hour.

 _Everything was the same_.

A woman's voice echoed from the speakers sharing with the world today's news: a thirty-year-old man found covered in blood in his apartment in Yokohama, a twenty-five year old woman was gagged and killed by her live-in partner in Shibuya.

' _God_ ,' she thought. 'Day after day, it's always the same news,' no wonder her brother felt so apathetic towards the world; no wonder he became what he did.

'This world is _rotting_ ,' she thought, looking at the people going about their daily lives.

 **•**

"…another is the extinction of many species of life on this planet…" the teacher continued to drone in the same monotone voice he always did. Or was it just her that thought so?

"You seriously want to see that shit?" a boy whispered to his friend in surprise. 'Nope, not just me.'

"It was a complete waste of time," he continued to say, 'your existence is a complete waste of time,' she thought in irritation.

"…species are becoming extinct at a faster rate…" a familiar taping sound drew her attention towards the front; more specifically, in front of her desk where her brother sat in his chair.

She couldn't help a small smile tug at the corner of her lips. It wasn't something unique to them, it wasn't even something others couldn't learn if they only bothered to do something other that waste oxygen.

Morse code.

The two learned it when they started grade school. Their own way of communicating without getting in trouble. Raising her pen she was prepared to answer back when movement caught her attention from the corner of her eye.

She didn't notice when her pen slipped between her fingers, rolling onto the floor. Though Light noticed and turned towards the sound.

She was too transfixed to care or notice. A notebook, a black notebook feel from the sky, landing behind the bench in the inner courtyard. 'It's here,' she thought, ' _it's here_.'

"Yagami-kun… _Yagami-kun_ ," her teacher's voice snapped her out of her musing. Its unusual accentuating catching her attention. And from the way her whole class was looking at her, it wasn't Light he was calling this time.

"Yagami-kun is everything alright?" he asked, fixing his glasses. 'No.'

"I'm sorry sir, my stomach is hurting extremely badly. I promise to try not to space out too much," she said bowing her head lightly, a touch of redness of her cheeks, just the right amount of embarrassment in her voice.

Light was looking at her in surprise and she couldn't quite tell if her little act fooled him or not but it didn't matter. He was not the one she needed to fool.

"A-ah, if you are not feeling well you should have just said so earlier. You may go to the nurse's office if you wish. I'll hand your brother a spare copy of the work," the man said, fiddling with the rim of his glasses.

Bowing her head in gratitude she quickly gathered her things and quietly exited the classroom, her face contorted just right to look as though she was on the verge of being ill.

There was nothing overly odd about this performance.

After all, she was Yagami _Hope_ , _not_ Yagami _Light_.

A good student, always did her work and achieved high scores _but she wasn't her brother_.

She didn't get one hundred percent on every test, in truth, her grades were all over the place. Wasn't always composed and pleasant to people. She was more prone to random outbursts. More emotional.

She was _a much_ better actor than her brother she thought though. Almost everything controlled and displayed just so. Never got full marks so people didn't expect her to always keep it up and wonder what was wrong when she didn't. More vocal and emotional so nobody would bat an eyelash if her behaviour seemed odd. "It's just Hope," they would say.

Always one step behind her perfect brother.

Good, but just not _Light_. And that was exactly what she wanted.

Once out she hurried her step. 'It's actually here,' she could deal with an annoyed Light, it was more important she got to that notebook before he did.

It was a stroke a luck that the office was not on the same side of the school, she could just say she cut through the courtyard to get there faster and for some fresh air. She should you the latter excuse even if that were not the case but it helps make it more believable.

Slowing her step so as to not look too excited, she made it look like she dragged herself to the other side, stopping every now and then to take a couple of deep breaths. There was always the chance someone could see her from the window. There was always a chance Light was watching as well.

Her steps were nevertheless purposeful, taking her to the small black patch in the grass. Once close enough, her bag, which she was carrying off her shoulder 'slipped' through her fingers, falling next to it, her pencil case falling out.

Bending to pick it up, she took both pencil-case and notebook off the ground, stuffing them both in her bag.

Hope need to will herself not to get the notebook out and make sure it was the real deal. Resist the urge to look around, hoping to spot the shinigami who dropped it.

This had to be the real thing. It had too. She wasn't born to a family who just happened to have a son named Yagami Light. Didn't witness the notebook falling from the sky for it to be fake. Therefore it had to be the real deal.

'It really does exist.'

 **•**

She made her way to the nurse office, put on her practiced ill act, received a couple of pain relievers and told to lie in bed till the effect kicked in.

Once the lessons were over Hope waited till Light politely knocked on the door and inquired about her. After listening to some more instructions from the nurse and warnings to be careful on the way back the twins left.

"Are you alright?" he asks and hope thought she detected genuine worry in his voice.

"I'm better," she confirmed, giving him a tired smile. In response he sighed, ruffling her hair before parring on. The entire journey keeping a more careful eye on her.

Really, for all that he could (and still could) become a high-functioning sociopath, Light was, at the very least, a good brother to her and Sayu. Moments like these did make her wonder if his will to achieve his goals would have ever surprised his love for them. And if he would have ever been willing to sacrifice them in exchange.

'Oh well, it didn't happen and if things were to go as I wanted them to…he never will have to make such a decision.'

 **•**

Back home Sachiko fussed over Hope once Light revealed she was sent to the nurse's office. It took some reassuring, tea and a bit to eat before she was able to go upstairs and 'rest.'

'That's the last thing I will be doing.'

Locking her door, on the off chance someone [Sayu] wanted to barge in, she pulled out a couple of magazines, threw them on her bed and opened some of them at random pages. Then she got out what really interested her.

The Death Note.

The words were written in white font on the cover of the notebook and she took a moment to admire them before climbing in her bed.

She opened it to the front page, the first few rules written in white on a black page and she truly had to fight off the urge to grin. Well, she could be permitted to act the way she truly wanted. Especially in the confines of her room. Before things became more _interesting_.

At first glance it didn't look like much. Just a stylised notebook you could buy from a shop. It had thirty-eight lines per page and seemingly endless pages if the fact that every time she went at the end there was still one extra page. Even when the notebook didn't change in size. Hope really could barely hold in her laugh.

But she did.

Wouldn't want her mother or someone else coming up to see what was up.

"How to use I: the human whose name is written in this note shall die," she read out loud, low enough so as to not be overheard.

"This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore people sharing the same name will not be affected. If the case of death…"

'It was real. She was holding in her hands the real deal,' though testing it, just to be _extra sure_ might be the right course of action after all.

Grabbing the remote from her nightstand she turned on the television to the news channel, 'there are bound to mention someone.' And wouldn't you guess it, the news station was abuzz over a man holding several kindergarten students and their teacher hostage.

'Pity, you chose the wrong time and place to do this Otaharada Kurou,' she though as she finished writing the name.

One second

She kinda wished it was instantaneous death.

Twenty seconds

The reporters were still talking.

Thirty seconds

She was tapping her pencil impatiently.

Forty seconds

Things were the same.

Forty-five seconds

The children and teachers were exiting the building.

Sixty seconds

Otaharada Kurou is declared dead

'The notebook is real.'

 **•**

Now, contrary to what some might think, Hope didn't just start obsessively writing names in the book. She had a plan.

Ever since she was born and the name of her brother began ringing bells in her head, Hope wondered. When she recalled why Yagami Light was a familiar name she started to scourge her brain, looking through memories she shouldn't have possessed in order to figure out her situation.

Or attempt to.

Hope simultaneously cared and didn't about the whole thing.

She was born, so she was going to live, and then die. Simple.

The girl was more concerned over the memory of the man who was her brother, _dying_ , like a dog, more than anything which was the sole reason she decided that _if_ the note was real, she would get to it first.

Which of course led to thoughts such as 'what if?' If the note was real, if the note came to be in her possession…what would she do. What if Light still got his hands on it? What was she to do?

The latter was the easiest to answer.

She would help him. If only to prevent him from dying.

Though the details of how exactly she would do that were yet to be decided upon. She wasn't certain you could tell someone with a God complex that they are _not_ one.

As for whether or not she would use the notebook is she got her hands on it…Hope was willing to admit she was torn on this front.

At first, she thought of simply destroying it and be done with it, but as the years passed, as her view of the world turned more grey…she decided to use it.

Death didn't scare her, life was progressively becoming duller and she genuinely believed the world would be better off without some people.

So her thoughts turning to using the death note was an inevitable.

She would sometimes find herself making lists, keeping tabs on the criminal activity around the world. Watching the news far more than was healthy. Listening to her father and Light discuss cases.

 _Prey._

She shuddered the first time she realised that is what she thought off in those situations. It wasn't that she didn't understand the value of life. She frankly thought herself fairly knowledgeable on the topic, which was more her narcissism talking than anything else.

It wasn't even that she thought the idea of riding the world of criminals particularly exciting.

What excited her, what got her blood pumping and heart racing was the thought of the chase. The police would take notice, the world would take notice. She didn't need past memories to figure that out. Then, undoubtedly people will be sent to find her. To put a stop to her crimes because murder was murder regardless of reason.

Nevertheless, Hope didn't possess any fancy thoughts of installing herself as a new Messiah. Didn't even particularly cared if the world grew so rotten it fell to pieces. (Though it did cause a bitter taste in her mouth. 'It would be _such a waste_.')

 _She was bored_.

Utterly so.

Devastatingly so.

And that was the only reason she would use the death note. _Because she was bored_.

Sure, Hope took up hobbies: martial arts, piano, skating, ' _bloody pottery_ '; learnt a whole new language and started on a new one (because why not) and could eat _so much_ cake while maintaining her figure that her mother and sister actually cried.

But that did _nothing_ to alleviate her boredom. She already lived once. True, not for a terribly long time and not a particularly exciting one either, but she already had a shot _so why was she here_?

Because some God got bored and thought this will be amusing. _She was willing to bet on it_.

She wanted something more exciting than this.

'Maybe I should go see the world,' which wasn't a bad idea but did not appeal to her nearly as much as the thought of having the whole world gunning after her.

God she was messed up.

Maybe more so than Light.

Maybe it ran in the family. He sure as hell wasn't a happy and fully sane pickle.

 **•**

The twins walked back home, greeted their mother and Sayu and when up to their respective rooms to prepare for cram school. Where they would pretend it was _oh so helpful_ and that: "my, I now understand this!" It was _so_ pointless.

If she wanted a hundred percent on the test she would get a hundred percent. If she wanted ninety percent then you better damn well bet that was what she would get. It didn't mean she never studied, there was always things to learn and that was one of the few things that alleviated the itch known as boredom that was always nearby.

It just meant she didn't need some cram school to get what she needed to pass and stay at the top on some standardised tests.

Light didn't need them either and it genuinely boggled Hope's mind that her parents spent so much money on this.

Though she was also grateful they cared enough to do it and in a good enough financial situation to afford it.

Nevertheless, once there, the twins took their seat, pulled out their books and supplies and prepared for the next hour of utter boredom. Not that it showed. They were the picture of a model student.

Although, maybe spacing up wasn't the greatest idea Hope ever had. Especially when the teacher called her out on it in front of the whole classroom. 'Seriously twice in one day? I need to get my act together.'

"Yagami-san! You might be part of the top but I better see a hundred percent on your next test! I won't be satisfied till you enter To-Oh like your brother will!" and of course people snickered, she pretended to be abashed about the whole thing and apologised and everyone was happy.

She really just wanted this to be over.

'I can't wait till I enter college,' she thought grumpily. And whether it showed on her face, or it was one of those twin things, Light must have caught on to her feelings. It wouldn't be hard. They were of one mind and soul on this issue.

So they spent the rest of the time talking with each other through morse rather than words. Tapping with one hand while they wrote with the other.

If anyone else caught on to what they were doing or the teacher knew…well, nobody called them out on it. That was their thing. _Theirs_. Let anyone try tell them otherwise.

 **•**

As they were about to leave cram school Hope was genuinely trying to restrain the sign which escaped her at the group of boys cornering the, whatever-his-name-was-glasses-guy, bulling the boy into giving him money.

Really, if Hope was to write about one of the most prominent issues in the education system of Japan it would be about the seemingly excessive bullying.

Turning around, she didn't pay attention to Light as he rolled his eyes before following her towards the group of boys.

"Oy shit-for-brains," she called and Light might have whispered the name Mogami. Not that it mattered, the whole group turned around either way.

"What did you call me bitch?" on of them, indeed the one she dressed, though it was an apt name for them all, hissed.

"How did you know I _called you_ unless that _is_ your name?" she mocked and felt Light grab her shoulder. A warning for the others to back off because she-was- _his_ -sister, while simultaneously a reminder for her to behave.

"You bitch," one of his friends squawked —she kid you not— and aimed a punch at her face. 'This is why the world is _so boring_ ,' she thought, easily catching the fist and _pulling_. Dragging the boy close enough so she could knee him in the groin.

Predictably he crumbled to the floor, the others inhaled sharply, watched, floundered around for a moment, before anger flooded their veins and they turned towards her again. Only to freeze at the combined glare of the Yagami twins.

It was a thing of beauty is what that was.

"How about you stop being such wastes of oxygen, get your own damn part-time jobs, use your own money and leave what's his name alone?" _see_ , she could behave, is what she wanted to tell Light but her twin's sigh was enough of an answer.

The bullies eventually scrambled when two more kids came to ask what the commotion was about, 'after it was all over of course,' and the two finally left.

Hope didn't believe this to be normal, she certainly didn't recall encountering so much trouble in one day, but the fact that barely ten minutes into their walk back they were nearing near a biker gang harassing a lady really shouldn't be the norm.

She wasn't sure how much of it was instinct on his part and how much it was conscious thought, but almost immediately after entering their area of action, Light placed an arm around her middle, pulled her closer to him and entered the nearest store, which, coincidentally, was the one in front of which the whole scene was taking place.

The woman was crying, asking for help and Hope felt the way her lip pulled back in a snarl at how people just walked past her.

"This world is rotting away," Light said, echoing her thoughts exactly and with a look in his eyes that was hard to decipher. He had his cellphone in his hand before she could even blink, already calling the police.

'It might be too late,' she thought in horror as they tried to get her on a bike. So she broke off from Light, ignored the way her called out her name as she marched right up to one of the guys and punched him in the face. 'This is how you punch,' she thought in satisfaction, avoiding another as he attempted to grab her. Pivoting to the right she elbowed him in the throat, knocking the breath out of him.

The distraction was enough for the girl to escape his grasp and get away, running towards the shop, her cries drawing the attention of several people, even though none responded to the situation presented.

'She looks like she can deal with it herself.' 'I don't want to get hurt.' 'Scary.' 'They shouldn't be doing that.' 'I wonder if someone called the police?'

Hope could practically hear their thoughts.

"Hope!" she knew her brother will come. He never left her, thought he had enough sense to finish his call with the police first.

She ducked underneath another swipe and had to admire the ease with which Light grabbed the guy's arm, using it to hold him in place as she knocked him off his balance.

Hope wasn't the only one that took martial arts as a kid, she was just the only one that saw the whole thing through.

Sirens were blaring in the distance growing in intensity and she thought for a moment the would get away before the police arrived, seeing as they were not stupid enough to not hear the distinctive noise.

One of them did get back on his bike and attempted to flee, only to be forced to spot when said police car cut him off. Another came from the side a moment later and the girl had to wince as her father made an appearance.

"I'm definitely getting scolded," she muttered, yowling when she got hit over the head. Looking up she saw Light's glare and knew she won't be receiving any help from him on this. ]

"Light! Hope!" 'Ugh, why is he a police officer,' she bemoaned mentally, watching as Soichiro made his way through the cops towards his children.

"What if the meaning—Are you both alright? What happened?" He said quickly, the last question directed at her brother.

"They were harassing a woman," Light said, voice deceptively calm, 'oh he's mad.'

"—Hope intervened and a fight broke out," he finished, seemingly casually glancing at the crowd till he spotted the woman who was originally attacked.

"Do you understand how dangerous that was?" Hope wasn't paying much attention to her father, too focused on the crying woman who was speaking with one of the officers. "Are you even listening!" Soichiro barked, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to face him.

His face was slightly red, his pupils dilated and…he looked like a mess. A worried mess and for the first time today she felt bad about it.

"I'm not going to apologise for helping her otōsan. But I apologise for making you and Light worry," she told him calmly. The man for his part seemed torn between further berating her and hugging her but he held it all in. This was neither the time or place.

"I-I'm sorry to interrupt," a new voice added, drawing the Yagami trio's attention. It was the woman being harassed. Her eyes were still glossy from tears and her hands were shaking but she took a deep breath before bowing.

"Thank you very much for helping me. If you didn't—I—thank you," she stuttered, still bowing and Hope reached out a hand to touch her shoulder. An action which made her look up and the younger girl gave her a smile.

"It's alright. Everything turned out for the better in the end and I'm glad you are ok," she said, charm turned up to max.

The woman thanked them all a couple more times, spoke with their father for a bit, and then the two teenagers were ushered inside the car.

"I'll drive you home," and that was that.

Once home they were greeted by Sayu and Sachiko, both surprised at seeing Soichiro home so early.

"Dear are you staying?" she asked, coming over to kiss his cheek as Hope snuck up the stairs.

"You are so impulsive," Light commented, causing her to jump as she was about to open her door. "Blo—damn it Light," she hissed, glaring at her unimpressed brother. "What did you want me to do?"

"Be less impulsive," he answered immediately, opening her door and going to sit on her bed, leaning back on it with his arms behind his head. Looking as though he owned the place.

"It was a completely thought through decision," she retaliated, dropping a bag on the floor and flopping belly first on the bed, disturbing Light in the process.

Sighing, her twin switched positions so he could grab her and pulled her closer. They stayed like that for a moment, both just enjoying each other's company.

"Don't go doing something like that again," he ordered, tightening his hold on her. "If something were to happen to you—you're the only bright thing in this world," and what could she say to that?

They have always been like this. _Always_.

From the moment she set her blurry vision on his form as he dragged himself closer to her for warmth when they were barely hours old. She knew from the moment his chubby cheek touched her own that regardless of the _why_ , he was hers and damn anyone who said otherwise.

So when the need for sleep hit her she didn't fight it, regardless of the fact that she hasn't changed or washed herself. Those things could wait till the morning.

The notebook could wait till tomorrow.

Right now she was too tired to care about anything else but the lulling effect Light's heart beat had on her. Although she feel asleep with a nagging thought.

They were twins. They shared everything with one another from their mother's womb to their darkest thoughts as they grew up. There was never any need to pretend with one another. Never any pressure to behave in a certain way.

But from tomorrow Hope knew that will change. Because she will put in motion something which she would not be able to share with Light.

They might have still had secrets they didn't share with one another. But this would be different. And if Light didn't become Kira then he would likely become someone that _will hunt_ Kira.

Because from tomorrow, Light will be one of the people _hunting her_.

* * *

 **A/N:"Are you kidding me? Another one?" Yup. This is the original setting of my death note fanfic, "Hope" is an alternate version where she never got the notebook. We will see which one I enjoy writing best. Right now I am still finalising the timeline for this story but if you feel like leaving a review with your input I would really appreciate it!**


	2. Confrontations

Really, what did she expect out of her meeting with Ryuk?

Hope wasn't completely certain but she was kinda glad her mother was out and her siblings knew better than to bother her when she had a random moment of screaming. If something was actually wrong she would have made it on.

Nevertheless, we are veering off-topic. Ryuk. Tall, bulky and looking like a lost kiss-band fan. He was indeed a creepy one and he didn't care about that one way or another.

"Why are you so surprised to see me? I'm Ryuk, the shinigami who dropped that notebook. You must have realised by now that it wasn't just any _random notebook_ , right?" he said and Hope spared a couple moments to stare at his mouth. Because holly-molly it was huge… ahem.

"Sorry about that. But people tend to startle when shinigami just seemingly appear into their rooms. Nice to finally meet you Ryuk, I was wondering when you will finally appear," Hope finally answered, raising from the floor and dusting herself before facing Ryuk.

"Ho?" he replied and there seemed to be mirth in his tone, though his face showed no change in emotion what so ever.

"Well, for someone who claimed to be so bored with the shinigami world I would have assumed you would have arrived earlier," was her reply as she took a seat in her chair, opening her drawer to pull out the notebook.

"I don't recall saying anything like that," Ryuk said and there might have been a hint of danger in voice that elicited a shiver out of the girl.

"Maybe not to me and not yet, but I'm not wrong either am I?" she replied cooly, not wanting to admit that she might have been holding her breath till Ryuk's resonating laugh filled the room.

"I was right, you humans are interesting!" and his grin was the stuff of nightmares. Though maybe she could grow used to it enough to even find it cute. "But how did you know that?"

"I'm not the person to ask that Ryuk. Aren't you the shinigami? You lot are responsible for souls and such right?" she asked instead, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Hmm?" he hummed in confusion, tilting his head just so.

"I guess you could say I am reincarnated? Memories got slogged up with someone else's? I don't particularly know or even really care about the details but I was born knowing things I really, really shouldn't. And the day you dropped that notebook you at least confirmed with certainty that not everything I know is made up," she explained, blinking in surprise when she literally felt a weight lift off her shoulders.

It was the first time she told someone this. It was—a novel feeling. It excused the goofy grin that bloomed on her face.

"I've never heard of something like that before, how interesting!" he said, grinning himself and in the process exposing sharp teeth of various lengths and sizes. Ryuk was rather fascinating. That was undeniable.

Though now that they got that out of the way, the two were basked in silence which was steadily growing uncomfortable as they just observed one another.

Forcefully coughing to clear her throat, Hope turned her attention towards the notebook in her hands before looking up at the shinigami once more.

"Say Ryuk, you interested in joining me in a little game I have prepared for the world?" and she was really glad it wasn't that easy to hear through the walls of their house.

The death god on the other hand leaned in closer to listen to what she had been doing and what she expected to continue occurring, laughter being his answer.

'Humans are interesting!'

 **—.—.—.—.—**

It has been two days since Ryuk made his appearance and that same day her father departed on a work-related trip abroad and Hope had a fairly good idea about where he was going.

The next day after finding the notebook she began writing down the name of criminals from across the globe, taking advantage of the properties of the death note and making sure that they not only did the criminals die of heart attacks, but that they all died at midnight. Twenty a day which lasted till yesterday, bringing her tally of death to one hundred and twenty already.

She knew that regardless of whether she was doing it with her bare hands or remotely, Hope should at least feel something in regards to the people she was killing. If not them personally, then at least over the mere fact that she was indeed purposefully taking human life.

But she _didn't_ and if that wasn't sign enough that she was not quite what society would class as sane…well Hope really didn't know what else to say about it.

Hell, she even achieved a psychology degree in her last life and that had to count towards something when it came to self-diagnosing.

She was inclined to believe she had some sort of antisocial behaviour disorder.

Though, as with most [psychology] labels, things didn't quite fit neatly in box and that was not a perfect diagnosis but Hope'll take it.

Nevertheless, as Hope and Ryuk were watching the tv, the girl refused to reign in her grin as the man called Lind L. Taylor talked.

"…which has turned into the biggest mass murder case in history. This monstrous crime must be stopped at all costs. 'Kira,' as the perpetrator is commonly known, will be caught. I guarantee it."

"Aren't you worried? He guarantees you'll be caught, hyuk, hyuk" Ryuk snickers.

"Nope. I've already told you haven't I Ryuk, this is the very reason why I started this," Hope casually said, taking out her death note and beginning to write.

"Oh, planning to kill him now?" the shinigami inquired?

"He'll die at midnight like all the others, which should not only prove to the real L that I can kill remotely, but will also make it seem like I can only kill at midnight, the internet in particular has latched on to this fact," she explained as she added the necessary details after writing in the cause of death.

"…I got a pretty good idea why you are doing this. But what you are doing is evil!"

"What are you writing there?" Ryuk, ever the inquisitor asked, leaning over her shoulder, his body shaking with suppressed laughter.

"You really are having fun with this," he noted, turning his perpetually grinning face towards her.

"Well isn't that the very reason we are in this situation together Ryuk?" Hope replied, a satisfied look on her face.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

The very next day another message was broadcasted on all television programmes at noon, only instead of Lind L. Taylor, there was only a stylised L present on the television screen.

Sayu was watching a drama and Hope chose to join her, resting her head sleepily on the couch. After all, last night she had been a busy bee and if she wanted to get a proper night's rest today she would also need to carry on with writing names for what she had planned for the next couple of days. She just needed to give the police a few more days to organise and gather information.

Light was just about to retreat to his room when the drama show was interrupted by L:

"I must admit that I am shocked, Kira you can truly kill without being present…" his filtered voice said steadily.

"Huh?" Light was heard uttering, walking towards them while Sayu exclaimed in surprise: "What is this!?"

"Listen to me Kira, the man you killed was a convicted murderer that was due to be executed yesterday. His arrest was a complete secret and information about it could not be gathered from the internet or news…but it seems you were already aware of this…"

"What? Are you serious?" Light said in shock, taking a seat on the couch

I wish to assure you that I, L, do in fact exist and I accept your challenge. So come on Kira! Kill me if you can!" L demanded and Hope raised both eyebrows at the theatrics.

'Is he trying to gauge the type of personality I have? If I am childish or impulsive enough to respond to such an obvious taunt?' she wondered.

"Is he insane?" Light muttered in shock, mouth hanging open while Sayu cowered by her side, fingers clenched in the material of her sweater.

"…So there are people you can't kill. That is a valuable clue," L continued, 'you already figured that out though.'

"Now I'll give you some information in return. Although last night's transmission was announced to have been world wide…actually it has only been broadcasted in Japan. The plan was to keep doing that in turn till we narrowed down your location and has not yet been shown in any other country. So you are in Japan for sure,"

"Hyuk, hyuk, it's going according yo what you have said so far," Ryuk pointed out in amusement, raptly watching the television screen. 'True,' she thought, unable to respond to him with her siblings present, 'however I am still curious how he narrowed it to Japan to begin with.'

"And although the police have missed this, your first victim was the Shinjuku killer who took eight people hostage in a nursery school," '…! so that's how… _he's sharp._ '

L carried on explaining how this helped him further narrow down the possible locations before moving on to declaring his intent to bring her to the execution room, ending the broadcast rather dramatically.

'Things are becoming really interesting around here,' she thought in excitement, ignoring Light's commentary.

'So both must hunt each other down without knowing anything about each other—no, Hope has the advantage here…hyuk,hyuk, humans are so fun!'

 **—.—.—.—.—**

 _~Several hours ago, December 5th; 23:58 ~_

'Kira has yet to respond,' L mussed, biting his thumb nail in thought. 'Is it because he hasn't seen the broadcast yet? Or is he not in Japan—no, I'm nearly one hundred percent certain Kira is in Japan. Could it be that they have more restraint than I thought? Maybe they wish to only kill off criminals and are confident they won't get caught. but if that is the case then Kira not killing Lind also proves that he doesn't know he is a criminal, maybe—'

"Hey are you alright!" the scream serving to interrupt L's mussing as he stared in shock at the screen before him.

Lind L. Taylor lay collapsed on the floor, people crowding around him.

"L," Watari's voice came through the speakers.

"Is he dead Watari?" he asked quickly.

"I'm afraid so; but there is more, I am sending you a scan of what he wrote before collapsing," the man said.

'What he wrote?' he thought in curiosity only to feel his body freeze at the image which popped on the screen.

 _Kira kills criminals. I am not the real L._

The simplicity of the sentences did not mask the real message in them and L could only stare blankly at the screen before a flare of irritation passed through him.

'Damn you Kira.'

 **—.—.—.—.—**

It was December the eight and the day began at with the death of an imprisoned inmate at 0000 hours in a prison in Spain. Nobody noticed his death till a few hours later, by which point several more inmates in various prisons across the country died at exactly one hour apart.

This pattern continued on for several days resulting in a whooping one hundred and thirty-eight deaths across the world.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

 _~December 12th; evening~_

Yagami Soichiro could only look on in despair as he received another death report stating that several more inmates died and based on the estimated time of death they all continued to follow the pattern of dying one hour apart.

"This is horrible," "Just who is this guy," were just some of the example statements made by the Kira Task Force members.

"Can't we do anything to stop these killings?!" one of them exclaimed in frustration, drawing the attention of several members.

"I'm afraid Kira is very determined to make their point clear to us all," L's computerised voice sounded from the speakers.

"What point? That he can kill people? We already know that," another continued his angry tirade.

"No I am afraid Kira is trying to tell us that despite our initial belief that he could only kill at midnight they are actually capable of manipulating the time of their victims' deaths however they please," fact which immediately started murmurs from everyone.

"So what, he's getting stronger?"

'This case is a nightmare,' Soichiro thought tiredly, sadly noting that once again he will get home really late.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

"You are in a good mood," Ryuk commented as she made her way to her dojo where she still came by often enough to train though no where near as much as before starting high school.

"Ah, I have been planning a little something for L, you know, to keep him _preoccupied_ ," she told Ryuk quietly, grinning at the shinigami.

"Does it have something to do with those criminals you were checking up last night?" the constantly curious death god asked.

"Maybe~" the Yagami female sing-songed, skipping as she passed by the all too familiar park.

"Hey Ryuk, do you want me to buy you some apples on the way back?"

Ryuk had to admit he was lucky to have her pick up the death note.

Interesting and willing to buy apples!

 **—.—.—.—.—**

L stared at the new note before him and cursed Kira some more.

There were several things he had been able to deduce so far:

Kira could kill without being present at the scene, they could control the time of death and even the victims actions to a point if the message left by Lind and the newest victim were anything to go by. Kira also likely needed to know the identity of the people he wanted to kill as he was still alive.

Kira a mass murderer who saw this whole thing like a game.

Originally L though Kira was someone with a juvenile sense of right and wrong who wanted to "clean" the world but that looked less and less likely to be the case with each passing victim.

Stopping and staring seemingly randomly, with no concrete pattern —though he felt like this Kira killed in groups, each one having its own set of rules. First criminals were only killed at midnight then by the hour and just in prisons, the latter just being Kira flaunting their ability.

The only anomalies so far were the death of Lind L. Taylor and Shimura Nagatowa, both used to leave him a message.

The male also suspected that Kira might have access to task force information, though not certain on that fact, he was sure that they at least had access to police records. As some of the victims could have only been found in the police database and no where else.

What made him suspect a relationship to the task-force was the fact that after announcing to the team that after comparing the estimated time of death of all known victims he came to the conclusion that they all died at midnight on the Japanese timezone rather than random times as the date would suggest at first glance due to the differences in timezones. Yet almost immediately after revealing this Kira switched to the hourly killings. Maybe that happened just by chance, but if it didn't…

L glared at the words which couldn't be coincidence:

 _'L did you know…'_

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Hope took Sayu to the ice ring, the youngest having complained that they weren't spending enough time together. And despite Sachiko's repeated reminders that entrance exams were drawing near Hope though indulging in a bit of sisterly bonding time wouldn't kill anyone.

"What's so funny?" Sayu asked her, eyebrows raised in curiosity as her elder sister continued snickering at a private joke.

"Don't worry about it—it's nothing, just remembered something funny," she told her, adding a wink in for good measure.

Hope had every intention to enjoy today and did her best to ignore the chattering people around them. After all, all they could talk about was Kira, and considering the media just printed about Kira's largest massacre to date —fifty confirmed— …it was understandable really.

However, today was not about Kira. Today was her and Sayu, Light having refused to come as ice skating wasn't his "thing."

Pity, boy needed to learn to appreciate art better.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

L got off the phone with the FBI director, having received confirmation that the bureau of investigation would lend their support and send several members to investigate the task force. The chance of Kira being at least someone close to a member was now over fifty precent and he was determined to catch them.

The investigation hasn't been advancing all that much over that past days and Kira's killing patter had become even more irregular.

After the last "suicide note" two more victims in consecutive days followed, each leaving behind a note which together spelt:

 _L did you know shinigami love apples?_

Kira was playing with him.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Christmas came and went and Soichiro was at least able to get off after noon to spend some time with his family on Christmas eve before returning back to work the following morning.

"Ugh, I hate Kira," Sayu grumbled, having claimed Hope's bed as her own while doing so.

"Do you now?" she asked in an amicable tone, pretending to be more interested in the magazine she was reading whilst ignoring Ryuk's snickers.

"Of course! All everyone can talk about is Kira this and Kira that—argh! That's all even Light wants to talk about," the teen bemoaned, resting her cheek on Hope's shoulder so she could look at the magazine as well.

"Ah that's a really cute top!" she squealed in delight, apparently bad mood already forgotten as she pointed to the article of clothing. This is turn cause her elder sister to snicker at her easily distractible nature.

"Well if you behave yourself the rest of the year I might just find myself buying it for you," she teased, a soft look in her eyes as Sayu buried her head in Hope's chest, a myriad of thank you escaping her.

"Aren't you the caring sibling," Ruyk pointed out and Hope discreetly rolled her eyes at him.

She was a murderer. She might even be a monster.

But if there is one thing that differentiates her from the Kira-Light is that she would much rather be caught and subsequently killed if it meant her family remained safe.

After all, what was it to her if she died again?

It was a 'been there done that,' sort of thing.

Yagami Hope undisputedly loved her family. _That was a fact._

The rest of the world could burn and it wouldn't make a difference to her.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Did anyone ever bother mentioning how amusing Ryuk was? Because if they didn't she was going to do so now. Particularly during classes where he was so bored that the only thing he could do was talk nonsense, walk around and peer at the teacher/students. Hope could say with a fair amount of certitude that there was no other human currently alive that was so up to date with shinigami gossip as she was.

Damn they sounded boring as hell. No wonder Ryuk decided to hell with it and came to the human world.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

It was new year's eve that she learnt of her little stalker. Or, more accurately, was informed of their existence.

She was walking back home with Light from the dreaded prep-school when Ryuk began speaking:

"Hope you got a moment?" to which she just chose to respond out-loud:

"No."

"Huh? What's the matter?" Light asked curiously, eyebrow raised. Damn him, he knew it infuriated her when he did that because _she_ couldn't do the one eyebrow thing.

"That woman. Just no. She is a walking fashion disaster," was her quick reply, even scrunching up her nose for added emphasis. Although in her defence (and luck) the woman genuinely was a walking fashion nightmare.

However, despite the conversing twins, Ryuk understood her message well enough.

"Well listen here anyway, I want to tell this to you know," he said, "I don't have anything against you, Hope. In a way, I think you're the best person who could've picked up my notebook. That's because I have to stick around till the notebook's finished or you're finished. That is, dead," the shinigami said.

"But…I'm neither on your side nor L's side in this. So I'm not going to tell you that what you are doing is right or wrong. I won't say a word on that. But I will speak up once in a while as your roommate," by this point he seemed to be rambling and Hope found that highly unusual for Ryuk.

"So what I'm about to tell you isn't spoken as Kira's ally…it's because it's bugging me personally. I'm always hovering behind you, so I noticed it right away and…it's really getting on my nerves. These last couple of days this guy's been following every step you take," he finally got out and Hope fully tuned out Light by this point.

'Has the FBI been called? Is L suspicious of the task force? Already? Hmmm…well this is an interesting development,' she thought a bit wickedly.

"He doesn't see me of course but I feel like I'm being the one watched," Ryuk continued complaining, knowing that Hope couldn't respond at the moment.

"I will need to do something about my grades if I want to get into To-Oh with you," was her sudden comment, unrelated to what she and Light were talking about but her twin was willing to take the bait.

"You wouldn't be having any problems it you actually cared. We both know the reason your grades are all over the place is because you don't care about them and not because you are stupid," he said seriously, pulling her cheek teasingly in mock annoyance.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Back home, Hope took her sweet time going up the stairs, eyes going immediately to the door hinges where she saw her intact pencil led. Pulling it out carefully she also noted the door handle was just as she left it.

So no surveillance cameras to worry about.

In her room, she collapsed on her bed, exhausted from the pure boredom the day had generated.

"Hey Ryuk, think you can last a couple more days with the guy trailing us?" she finally dressed the shinigami properly.

"Can't you just kill him? I might do so myself if he keeps this up," he complained.

"I've told you that last time the FBI was sent to investigate the Task Force, obviously something must have tipped off L…wonder what it was—never mind that. I would rather go about this problem differently from Light but to do so I need the guy to finish his assessment. So, what about it?" she probed once more, turning to face Ryuk.

"You owe me an apple," and wasn't that just typical. But she got up, quickly planted a kiss on his cheek and went to fetch an apple. Hope learnt early on that Ryuk was actually shy around girls, or so he claimed. Which resulted in hilarious ways he made sure to not pay attention to her when she bathed or changed. Silly reaper.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

New Years day found the twins walking towards the police headquarters, a bad with clean clothing held in Hope's hands as they walk at a languid pace

The girl volunteered herself for the task when Sayu said she needed to go meet up with friends and then proceeded to drag her sibling out of his room as well, claiming he needed fresh air.

Nothing interesting happened all the day accomplished was to prove to their shadower just what amazing children Soichiro had.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Five days into the new year and Ryuk declared they were finally stalker free, which meant Hope better start on her task. After all, the sooner one gets something done the better.

The female also decide to bet on the fact that it was indeed the FBI which was responsible for this. After all, if L wanted to investigate the Task force he could very well use the Japanese police.

Hence why she was staring at the face of the FBI director Steve Mason, death note opened.

After being certain she had a clear picture of him in her mind, Hope quickly re-scanned what she had already written down in the death note and couldn't help but grin.

"I didn't know you could use the death note like this," Ryuk said, snickering lightly at what she was about to put in motion.

"Well I guess we will find out if it works or if I completely fucked up," she told him cheekily, finally writing the director's name in the blank space she left.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

It was exactly seven o'clock in the morning on January the sixth when Soichiro's computer chimed signalling the arrival of an email.

However upon opening it all he could do was stare in confusion at the faces before him. Then had a bad enough feeling about the whole thing the first thing he did was demand to speak with L.

After all, what else was he to do after receiving a file containing the information of several FBI agents.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

L was biting his thumb in frustration. Upon being contacted by Yagami-san, he learnt that a file containing the information of all twelve FBI agents dispatched to Japan arrived to his and several other task force members' emails including the deputy director's.

When he tried to contact Manson initially he received no answer only to be called back later and told that the director died of a heart attack.

All information about the agents was erased but the damage might have already been done.

'Just what are you playing at Kira?'

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Ale Funderrem and Arire Weekwood were the first victims, discovered immediately as all agents in Japan were ordered to return home.

The next day it was Bess Sekllet and Freddi Guntair, followed by Frigde Copen and Girela Sevenster the day after.

The bureau was in an uproar and torn between wanting Kira's blood and fear that if they didn't pull back more casualties will occur. However, despite the urgency of the situation, protocol (because there sure was a protocol for dealing with a "supernatural" killer) had to be followed and bureaucracy made itself known.

Only on day four since the systematic murders of the FBI agents began did the US and new agency director give a statement. Presenting the formal return of the remaining agents and the FBI's official retreat from the Kira case. It was a press nightmare and they were still too late.

None of the agents died at the same time, and by the time of their statement another pair of agents were killed. The Kira Task Force was also enraged to find out L had the FBI investigating them and their families, not to mention fear run rampant throughout the ranks and nearly every single member walked out from the operation.

This was a disaster. And L knew Kira won this battle. They didn't expect Kira to kill anyone that wasn't a criminal. But they have been proven wrong and it seemed Kira wasn't going to stand there waiting for them to find out who it was.

And nobody expected for it to be so terrifying. Because how could you defend yourself from imminent death?

 **—.—.—.—.—**

In their small hotel room, Naomi Misora and her fiancé Raye Penner found themselves basking in tense silence, having just finished arguing with one another.

Naomi was determined to not take this standing down, "You could have died!" while Raye refused to allow her to endanger herself more than her mere association with him already exposed her to.

"They already have my information!"

In the end, the two come to an agreement, one that left neither fully satisfied but which would have to do for now.

Tomorrow they will go speak with the Kira Task Force in Japan. Demand to speak with L. They won't take the death of their friends lying down.

* * *

 **A/N: Yay second chapter for the Death Note series! It really is odd to write for such a diabolical? No, not the right adjective, but she really has little to no regard for human life if she sees them as wastes of space. Or at least that is how I am attempting to portray her 'D and I often find myself thinking when planning out the plot that that is too cruel or something ... ah this is indeed a learning experience. (I think she would have been easier to write if I made her a straight up sadist XD like some of my Naruto OCs)**

 **Reviews, if you are bothered, are extremely encouraging!**

 **Thank you for reading :***


	3. Patterns

Kira was getting bolder and L would have to become so himself if he wished to capture them. Out of the entire Task Force only eight members (excluding the NPA director) received the files containing the information about the twelve FBI agents. That meant Kira must have had access to the files from one of them. Indirectly at least.

L had thoroughly examined the Task Force before hand and the eight in particular even more so in light of this fact. However, it was not only highly unlikely any of them were Kira, but his gut told him that to be the case as well. That left their immediate family as the next set of suspects to focus on.

Eliminating the ones who no longer had family, had family incapacitated to some measure and the youngest of children present left them with three families that were more likely to hold their culprit.

 _Kitamura, Yagami and Sawatoe._

The young man stared at the files of each family member just now, looking, analysing, trying to see if the one toying with them could actually be one of the people whose file he had gone over multiple times already.

"L," Watari's voice broke his mussing, "they are all here," the elderly man announce once he had the detective's attention.

"Ah thank you Watari," was his reply as he got up.

It was time he finally introduce himself to the people he was working alongside off.

'You might have won this battle Kira…but I will win the war.'

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

She should have probably realised the moment she and Light stepped foot inside the house only to realise it empty. But in all honesty that would have been a ridiculous conclusion.

Sayu and their mother were not permanent fixtures of the house, not furniture. So having them absent wasn't all that shocking.

Just a bit unusual. For this time of the day at least.

Nevertheless the twins carried on with their routine, Hope went to grab an apple from the kitchen —because it was a particularly boring day at school today and Ryuk deserved a rewards for soldering through it— while Light made a beeline for the couch to turn on the television.

Feeling rather generous in that moment Hope offered to bring Light's bag upstairs to which he absentmindedly agreed.

Rolling her eyes at his behaviour she bit her tongue from making a quip about his fascination with the Kira case.

"He is a criminal," was his simple response when asked about it, "he might just be targeting criminals but murder is murder and they are in no position to make those judgments," he would elaborate if prompted. And Hope would smile, maybe make a remark, but always, _always_ , made sure to not let him see her eyes in those moments.

Because for all that her acting skills were top notch…Light was her twin, and there were things they just couldn't keep a secret from the other.

L wasn't the real threat —so to speak— it was here brother. For if he ever joined the investigation, Hope had little doubt that he could figure out that she was Kira.

And when that happened the game was up. Because the one thing she will not do is kill her own brother. _Never_. Not to carry on toying with the police. Not to change the world. Not to extend her life.

Her brother, her family; they were the only bright spots in her life. And whatever the alternate Light might have felt or thought to make him even considering sacrificing his family—was not something Hope shared with him.

Ah, there she was, getting sidetracked once more. Her mussing were not what was really important. What was important was that as she neared her own door, her eyes zoomed in to were the led piece normally laid.

Only to find it missing.

Walking confidently towards her room, she gave no outward sign of anything being wrong as she went in and threw her bag on the floor; repeating the process with Light's.

Ignoring Ryuk throughout the whole thing as she took a bite of the apple.

Humming a song-less tune, she scanned her room pensively, before her eyes narrowed in on her desk. Walking towards it, she opened the second drawer upon reaching it pulling out her purse before pivoting on her heals and walking towards her bookshelf. There, in a corner, lay a paper holder which she used to store her magazines in. Pulling that out she emptied its contents on the bed, making a show of looking through them all before sighing.

Never once, through this entire process, did she let go of the apple; for fear the increasingly annoyed Ryuk would have picked it up and ate it. Wouldn't that have been fun to explain?

Bringing her purse with her Hope exited her room, stopped to tell Light she was going out and ask if he needed anything before putting on her shoes and coat.

Once out she tried to be discreet though the shinigami had not complained of someone following them anymore.

"Listen Ryuk," she said quickly, interrupting his string of grumblings.

"So now you talk, li—"

"Surveillance cameras and microphones have likely been installed in the house," she stopped him again.

"Oh? That's why you were ignoring me. Doesn't that mean they know it was you?" he questioned, annoyance forgotten.

"No, more likely trying to determine if anyone is worthy of being suspected," she explained, "it means we can't talk at home anymore till the surveillance equipment is gone. It also means you can't eat apples anymore either."

A person could say several things about Ryuk if they wanted. But dramatic most certainly had to be put at the top of the list. Because anyone willing to stop dead in the middle of the road, raise their hangs and scream towards the heavens could only be a drama queen.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

"You remember what I told you?" Hope checked with Ryuk one last time before turning the corner onto her street.

"Ah, I know, I know. Find all the cameras, gyuk, gyuk, this is going to be fun," the shinigami proclaimed.

'Let the games begin L.'

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

Sachiko was downstairs preparing dinner with her youngest pitching in when asked. Light was being his annoying good self and revising whilst Hope tried to resist banging her head. All the while Ryuk was busily doing as asked, looking for all the cameras in her room in the hopes of finding a (non-existing) blindspot to eat his apples in.

She leafed through the newest issue of eighteen, dog-earing pages that contained things which caught her eye before finally giving up and rolling on her back. It was a particularly slow day today and while the knowledge that L installed surveillance equipment in her house proved a midget of adrenaline…that was over quickly.

So far he had nothing on her or her family so that meant he wouldn't be particularly focused on them. Which meant less entertainment for her and Ryuk but hopefully the detective will find her little present tomorrow thought provoking.

Was she smiling right now? If she was Hope was certain it would be a mean little smile.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

"Hey Light~ I can't decide," the eldest of the Yagami sisters wined childishly, receiving a reproaching look that Hope winked away. She could be such a cheeky menace when she wanted.

"What would look better on me, white, black or blue?" the girl asked, getting a moment of Sayu's attention; who decided it a genial idea to stand right in front of the television.

"What for?" her brother asked suspiciously. Not that he could help it. He _was_ Hope's twin. He grew up with her. Thus he knew better than to not be wary when she had that look on her face.

"That's not an answer, common tell me," she moaned, giving him the kicked puppy look that only made his eye twitch.

"Black," he finally said,—at the same time their mother called her name— looking at her through narrowed eyes.

"Olala~ black eh? Hmm…dully noted, I'll make sure to ask Sayu as well. Once she decides to dignify us mortals with her presence" she replied, not resisting the jibe at her younger sister.

" _Nee-chan._ "

It was these moments that made her not regret her rebirth for all that she didn't understand it.

These moments of peace, where they were all together. Her family made it worth it.

"Oh," Sayu exclaimed once more, eyes back on the television. "A news bulletin!" Now that drew everyone's attention.

"Interpol to send total of 1,500 detectives from various countries to Japan to help solve the Kira case," she read out-loud, "1,500 detectives? Wow…," she exclaimed their mother nodding along, leaving only Hope and Light to snort derisively at this.

"Interpol's so stupid," the boy stated, managing to look both bored and disappointed.

"What?" sayu asked curiously, attention solely focused on Light.

"What's the point of announcing it like this?" Hope began explaining, parring on eating peacefully, "If they are going to send all those detectives they are better off doing so quietly."

"Those FBI agents were here on a top-secret mission, and look what still happened to them. If Kira knows about these guys, he's going to get them for sure," Light took over.

"You are doing that thing again…" Sayu mumbled, eyeing her elder sibling for a moment before finally saying:

"But you're right! Nii-chan and nee-chan are so smart!" she exclaimed in awe, Sachiko nodding in approval.

"That's why this is likely just a ruse to put pressure on Kira," Hope said, "But it's pretty obvious. And call Kira what you may so far they eluded the cops so they must have figured this out too," Light finished, the twins sharing a knowing grin with one another. Act which only caused their sister to pout playfully while Sachiko looked on fondly at the three.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

Meanwhile, L and Soichiro carried on monitoring the scene and the youngest of the two couldn't help the appreciative smile.

"Your children are very intelligent…" taking the older man by surprise and leaving him at a loss for words.

"Ug…I guess so…" was that a good or a bad thing? He couldn't tell with L. Not in this situation.

'I wonder…could one of them be Kira?'

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

"Ah! By the way, what was it you asked Light about earlier that you said you wanted to ask me about too," Sayu suddenly exclaimed as Hope was gathering the empty vessels.

"Mmm? Oh! Wait a moment," she said, depositing said vessels into the hint before retrieving the discarded magazine.

"I was talking about this, couldn't decide the kind of lingerie to get," Hope said happily, mentally laughing when she heard the tell-tale sounds of Light chocking. Sachiko knew better than to get involved.

"Eeh! Nii-chan you like black?" Sayu joined in on the teasing, giggling at the sight of a red-faced Light.

"So? Which one do you think looks better? I can't decide," Hope returned the focus onto the images before them and Sayu hummed contemplatively. Even Sachiko took a peak and looked to be contemplating this.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

While this was happening Yagami Soichiro was contemplating everything he knew about his children, though his expression was more fond than wary. And a tad bit exasperated.

"The blue one," L said suddenly, causing Soichiro to turn towards him; frowning in confusion. Although the younger male acted as though he said nothing out of the ordinary whilst he expertly holding a fork between his thumb and middle finger; enjoying the cake Watari just brought in.

It took the older man a moment longer to realise what L was referring to and by that point the children were leaving and he was forced to swallow his fatherly indignation.

God, he hated this surveillance so much.

Also, he would need to have a talk with L later.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

The next day, during break, Hope excused herself from the group of girls she was conversing with to go to the bathroom.

Once inside a stall she pulled out a pencil from her blazer pocket and her purse, bringing out a piece of the notebook tucked inside.

All the while smirking, a touch of malice in it.

Not that Ryuk was any better, laughing as he was.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

The following morning L received a report from Watari stating a man died of a heart attack in prison at exactly midnight —on Japan's time.

Only not only did this person die; but they blindfolded themselves before it happened.

Later that day, another criminal was confirmed dead. Only this time they died at noon after stuffing tissues in their ears.

A theory was forming in L's mind and he coulnd't help his growing irritation with Kira. However he didn't have his confirmation till the early hours of January the fifteenth, after a man died at dawn, this time having taped his mouth shut.

'Damn you Kira!' he though, realising what this was supposed to mean.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

Soichiro and the rest of the task force were left feeling various levels of anger and disgust towards Kira after the latest stunt.

"To use humans like that…damn it, what the hell is Kira thinking! Is this just a game to them!" Aizawa exclaimed angrily.

"Likely. However that is not the message they are putting across," the young detective told the team. All members having gathered at the Hotel room he was sharing with Soichiro as it was that time of day where almost nobody was home. The televisions were still working in the back showing the different wives of the three families they were monitoring as well as the guest on of them had over.

"A message?" Matsuda asked in confusion, eyebrows drawn together.

It was Naomi who realised it first, exclaiming in surprise and drawing everyone's attention.

"The first was blindfolded. The second covered their ears and the third taped their mouth….see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil…Ryūzaki, you don't think…" she trailed off in shock.

"Sharp as ever Naomi-san. I believe what Kira is telling us…is that they know about the surveillance," the male declared, dropping the sugar cube he was filing with into the coffee.

Nearly everyone was either paralysed with shock or left muttering unintelligible protests,

"Ryūzaki! You can't possibly think…nobody hear would have leaved that information!" Soichiro protested, desperation clearly etched on his face.

'If that were the case…my family will look the most suspicious.'

"No, I don't believe this information was leaked. However it does mean that Kira had some method of telling we tampered with their home. It would mean that no matter how long we spend surveilling the families Kira won't be revealing themselves," he explained.

"We won't _see_ how they kill, we won't _hear_ anything suspicious and they certainly won't _say_ anything," Raye summarised, his expression displaying his displeasure with the news.

"…exactly. We're pulling back the surveillance." He ordered.

'I can't count on Kira making any mistake…other than those three Kira hasn't killed anyone else, but that means nothing. They stopped killing before as well. Even so…the most suspicious out of all the people…,' numerous plans were forming and subsequently being dismissed by L till he settled on only one thing for now.

"Watari I need you to arrange something for me."

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

January the seventeenth arrived, along with a horde of students crowding the stations in an effort to get at their potential universities in good time for the entrance exams. And while they all rushed, adrenaline pumping through their veins, the Yagami twins languidly left their house, feeling more irritated at having to face the cold weather than anything.

Their mother and younger sister were both at the entrance, in their pyjamas, shouting their well-wishes for the two. Act which even caused some of the neighbour to poke their head out and wave enthusiastically, adding their own good lucks to the mix.

All in all, it was unneeded fanfare that the twins received nevertheless. By the time they arrived at the entrance of To-Oh, the street were deserted —sans a spare few passer-byes— and a staff member was telling them to hurry up as they only had ten minutes to spare. News which only caused Light to sigh.

"I hope we would arrive with only three minutes to spare…I hate waiting inside the class," he grumbled, a put-off expression on his face.

"We could make it a competition to see who can walk the slowest to the classroom," she proposed mischievously. A testing light —pardon the pun— in her eyes.

This was the Hope only her family had to deal with. The one who forged a bubble around herself that only included her immediate relatives and nobody else.

The boy gave no outward response to her proposition but his answering smirk and the flabbergasted look directed at them by the staff member posted to freeze his ass off outside were good enough replacements.

The game was _on_.

And the twins laughed as they made increasingly ridiculous attempts at being the slowest. Barely making it in time for the exam and completely ignoring the unimpressed looks they received from fellow exam taker and staff.

These were the Yagami twins. The ones only they were privy of witnessing. The ones capable of reading the other through the subtlest of signs and who could bring out the best in the other. Together they created something others could only yearn to be part off.

It didn't matter that they both had a few loose screws up there. It didn't matter that one was a mass murderer. It didn't even matter that the other one was interesting in catching said mass-murderer.

Nothing mattered because no matter what fate had in store for them they were twins. Together from the very beginning and capable enough to take on whatever was thrown their way.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

One shouldn't expect exams to be particularly interesting. Rare was the case where that could be said of one. And the To-Oh entrance exam was gearing up to be part of the latter variety.

Of course, that is if one saw nothing beyond an odd teen found taking the test as well. But Hope saw more than that. Knew he was more than that.

After the twins took their assigned seats and the invigilator gave the go ahead to begin, he spotted something in the back which caught his attention. The girl hadn't noticed him at first, her own oversight being to blame, but when the teacher demanded the boy sit properly, her body unconsciously turned towards the commotion.

She felt as though all the air left her lungs at the sight of the male with messy black hair, dark eye-bangs, which stood in stark contrast against his pale skin. His legs, the reason he was singled out to begin with, were resting on the chair, his knees tucked close to his chest.

'L!' Hope realised, outwardly only portraying a mildly curious expression at the male before turning back towards her test paper.

Inside on the other hand, her heart was thumping wildly and adrenaline was rushing through her body. Her pupils dilated and the hairs on her arms stood on end and she found it increasingly difficult not to grin.

'L…the best detective in the whole world!' she thought somewhat giddily, feeling that something she only felt when 'playing' with the detective.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

The exam did not take her long to complete and each time the one or the other finished they would signal it to the other via taps.

Did it annoy the other students desperately trying to finish their paper?

Course it did.

Did either of them care?

Course they didn't.

How were they to blame for other people's inability to quickly and effectively finish the test.

Ryuk, on the other hand, was likely more bored than her and was making a point about loudly commenting. Knowing only she could hear him.

 _Taaap, tap, tap,tap, pause, taaap, taaap, taaap, pause, tap, taaap, tap, pause, tap, pause, taaap, tap, tap._ ( _Bored_ )

It really couldn't be helped, Hope knew today was meant to be a slow day. However when you know your 'enemy' was right there, well it was harder to deal with the boredom imposed on her by the situation.

Man this day was doing to kill her.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

So she should have expected to not be able to speak with L. It kinda annoyed her since she clearly couldn't choose to go up to him but she shouldn't have been surprised when he didn't engage her either.

'Stupid L,' she grumbled mentally, taking out her irritation on Light by demanding he buy them some takoyaki. Where were they going to find a takoyaki stand? They were in Tokyo, they would manage.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

"So L was in the same room?" Ryuk asked curiously, finding the entire situation more and more curious.

Today when they returned from the University, the shinigami did another sweep of the room and confirmed the disappearance of the cameras. Which, much to his delight, meant he could eat apples in peace. 'Finally, the withdrawal was getting annoying.'

"So he is on to you then, hyuk, hyuk," he snickered.

"Or thinks it's Light. Either way he still chose to focus on us, wether or not the other families are also being monitored still…well, that doesn't matter. Things are really picking up Ryuk."

"What you doing now?" he asked instead, leaning closer to get a better look at her computer screen.

"Research. I've left the Task force hanging for quite a while. Though I'll let them roost for a bit longer before letting this chick to hatch," she told the shinigami casually.

"…did you try to make a chicken joke?" Ryuk asked curiously.

"…so?" Hope puffed out her cheeks childishly.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

The Task force should have expected Kira's reemergence. Yet when nine criminals all dropped dead in Hokkaido at the same time they were still taken by surprise.

'What have you planned this time Kira?' L wondered, biting his nail in concentration.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

Twenty days have passed and it was now February the ninth. Each day a different number of criminals dropped dead from a different Japanese prefecture. The pattern wasn't hard to notice but was certainly hard to hide as News reporters and the internet took to calling this 'Kira's spring cleaning,' or other such similar terms. Once again she had all the criminals die at midnight, fast which just made writing the names in the notebook take longer.

Alas she had to see this through now. Couldn't give up halfway through. After all, there was a total of forty-seven prefectures in Japan.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

February the twenty-eight came and went along with the twins' birthday. Soichiro managed to make an appearance early in the morning before needing to leave, taking a moment longer than normal to look at both Light and Hope.

"I love you all," he said like he always did. So why did Hope feel her hear squeezed painfully thins time?

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

By the seventh of March Kira had officially killed one hundred and seventy-nine criminals from each prefecture.

Crime rate in Japan was at an all time low and every criminal ended up shaking in their boots throughout this entire month and a bit. Wondering:

'When will I be next?'

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

As predicted Kira took a break after this. Only this time it lasted only two days and on March ten twenty more criminals world-wide were declared dead. The next day another twenty. Then another two day break before resuming that pattern.

The Japanese Task Force was nowhere closer to finding Kira.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

The twenty-twenty killing have stopped twenty days later ad by the end of it all an astonishing two-hundred people were killed.

'Enjoy yourself while you can Kira. I will catch you.'

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

On the thirty-first of March, five criminals were killed. The following day only two.

On the fourth of April Soichiro had a day off that he spend with his family. Presenting to the twins the presents he bought them for making it into To-Oh.

A watch for Light and a pair of diamond studs for Hope. The latter of which was left speechless at the present.

It might have not been as useful as the watch would have but the girl know how expensive they must have been. Even if they were quite small. She made sure to kiss both of her father's cheeks in return and hug him for a long while. Mentally she also apologised for all the stress she was causing him as Kira.

'But that doesn't mean I'll stop now.'

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

On the fifth of April, the five-two pattern ended. As it so happened that was also the day of To-Oh's entrance ceremony.

That was also the day Hope got the meting she wanted.

* * *

 **A/N: Ahhh~ you lot are so wonderful ;A; I never expected such lovely comments! Thank you soooo much! :Hugs:**

 **And yes I will carry on with this story! I quite like writing for it. Hope's growing on me.**

 **Comments** **are love and thank you for stopping by!**


	4. Meetings

Light and Hope arrived with five minutes to spare at the entrance ceremony. Dressed-up for the occasion; shoes polished, and ready for it to be over.

Ryuk made a point of sarcastically congratulating her. Or it sounded sarcastic coming from him at least. Dramatically uttering a few words about how proud he was while Hope rolled her eyes in exasperation. Pretending it was at the over the top display of affection some families were portraying.

They made their way through the mass of students, eyes set on their destination with no desire to engage in conversation with anyone.

As Light was to be giving the speech for the freshmen, the twins chose to sit at the very front, and wouldn't you guess it, none other than L himself was sitting next to two empty seats. _How utterly convenient_.

Both eyed him strangely, under the pretext of his attire and sitting position before taking said seats. Light making a subtle point by moving so he had to sit next to L rather than Hope.

Seriously, wasn't he just a wonderful brother without the note's influence?

The principal spoke, Hope made a show of applauding when needed and looking interested in what was being said and all was _wonderful_. —cue mental snort—

When it was time for the freshmen representatives to stand up and give the speech the girl actually straightened up to pay attention.

Not at the actual speech, because it was so generic it made her want to cry—also on that note, whose genius idea was it to have both boys give the exact same speech.

She could hear people around her muttering and speculating about the two:

"I heard they both got perfect scores!" "I think I like the one on the right," "Eh! You are so weird Kyoko. Most people would chose the one on the right you know?" and so on.

Though, Hope could understand this 'Kyoko' girl. For all that L looked as if he literally rolled out of bed…he was not unpleasing to the eye. Though maybe she shouldn't be involved in that conversation. One of the options was her twin after all.

Speech delivered, applauses received, the two walked back towards her. Though, as if in response to Light's previous actions, L made it a point to take the seat next to her. Putting him right in the middle.

Had this been anyplace else Light might have said something, however this was neither the time nor the place and he was forced to sit in the empty chair. Though, not without glaring at L.

"Yagami Light, Yagami Hope, your father is the detective-superintendent Soichiro Yagami of the NPA. I have been informed that you have taken an interest in the Kira case," he say suddenly. Low enough so he wouldn't be overheard but loud enough so they could still hear him.

Hope dignified him with a raised eyebrow while Light outright asked him who he was without missing a beat.

"You are both extremely close and unlikely to keep secrets from one another. If you both swear not to reveal the following information, I will place my trust into your sense of justice and reveal something of vital importance to the Kira investigation."

'Here it comes!' she thought, jubilant at the way things were proceeding. Outwardly however she shared a look with Light, the two communicating without words before he addressed L:

"We won't say anything," he declared confidently, still making it look as though he was paying attention to the speaker.

"I'm L." And thank goodness for Ryuk, for his booming laugh expressed exactly what she felt on the inside. Really. How would have thought the young detective had a flair for the dramatic?

Both twins displayed mild shock at the news, sending the male in the middle surprised looks before another silent moment passed between them.

"If you are truly who you say you are," Light said quietly, turning around to face L better, "you have my full respect and admiration."

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

'Yagami Light and Yagami Hope…the likelihood of either of you being Kira is less than five precent. However, out of everyone we watched, the most suspicious…'

However, out of everyone we watched, the most suspicious…'

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

When the Gods deigned they have suffered enough and they were dismissed from the assembly hall Hope found it difficult not to run outside. Partially because she has always been an active person and standing still, listening to someone talk for so long made her antsy, and partially because the elation from finally, _finally_ meeting L properly just had her wanting to skip down the streets.

…was there a brain mechanic somewhere out there? Because she honestly must have something loose inside there.

Walking towards the gates they heard L call out to them:

"Yagami-kun," stopping and turning, "it was nice meeting the two of you…" L said, trailing off at the end.

"Yes it was nice meeting you too," Light said on behalf of both of them, however Hope couldn't help adding:

"We'll see you around campus," bowing slight and appearing the well-mannered daughter her parents raised, nobody saw the grin her hair covered.

L took a moment to look at them, blinking in, confusion? Suspicious? Who knew.

"Yes, see you around," and he got into his limo.

'Is that Watari?' Hope wondered eyeing the older man.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

Of course the journey back home was filled with talk about; you guessed it, L. Which was something she couldn't reproach her brother about…too much. Honestly, you would think he had been personally insulted the way he talked about the man whilst at the same time still retaining the excitement of someone that just meet their idol.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

In this moment Hope felt as though she could understand the Light of another world. At least in regards to L that is.

The girl had her suspicion that he would be the one to initiate a conversation, but she didn't quite think he would approach her so quickly to do so.

It was barely the day after the inauguration ceremony and after her morning lectures that Hope had walked to a nearby patisserie for a much-needed sugar fill. That was the moment Hope nearly sucker punched L in the face when he unexpectedly approached her.

"As expected of a former World Junior Champion," L praised, having successfully leaned back in time to avoid her fist.

"L—Ryuga!"

"Who would have thought we would run into each other so soon," he added plainly.

"You would have. If you are who you say you are then I very much doubt you would have approached Light and I for no reason," Hope stated, returning back to her original purpose. Aka, enter the sweet shop and place an order.

L dutifully followed her inside and stayed quiet till they were shown to an empty table.

"Hmm, you and your brother are both sharp. Tell me then why do you think I have approached you," the male prompted, "also I am fond of strawberry sundaes, what about you?"

"Are there any apple ones?" Ryuk asked, actually looking to be pondering this based on his posture.

"Chocolate cake with raspberries for me please," Hope told the waitress waiting on them. When the woman was out of earshot she refocused her attention on L. Placing an elbow on the table, she leaned her head on her open hand, choosing to stare at the male quietly for a few moments. This lasted till their orders were brought over and the waitress left awkwardly, noting she was interrupting an intense stare off.

"Damn," Hope cursed. Having been the first to blink. "Tell me Ryuga-san, if I call my father right now—well if his phone is turned on; will he confirm your identity if I describe you?" she asked, ignoring his earlier question.

"Yes, Yagami-san is aware of this meeting," he said with the spoon still in his mouth.

"Hmmm. Well then, how about you cut to the chase and tell me what you want?" she demanded, smile still in place and eyes twinkling as she took a bite out of her cake.

"Bold aren't you?" Ryuk sniggered besides her.

"Will you not be contacting your father?" L asked, tilting his head to the side lightly.

"No. I'll take your word for now. If you are who you say you are then I might as well get this—whatever this is— over with. If you are not, then at least I got to eat my cake with someone. No real loss here you see?" she answered him happily. Mentally cataloguing the way L frowned slightly.

"I was right," the male declared and for the first time Hope felt a twinge of apprehension. Had she underestimated L or overestimated her abilities the way the other Light has? Was he certain she was Kira?

No.

The latter couldn't be true at this stage in the game.

"Blue would look best on you," he finished, nodding his head in agreement. 'Huh?' she thought, blinking owlishly at the male with Ryuk verbalising her confusion.

"Blue," L repeated, and was that amusement she saw in his eyes? "You asked if blue, black or white would look better on you," he told her simply and Hope wondered if he was crazy.

"When did I ask—," here she allowed her mouth to make a small 'o' and her eyes to widen as realisation sunk in and memories from the week before the entrance exam rushed to her.

Then she frowned, doing a mighty good impression of anger coursing through her as her expression morphed accordingly.

"And how, pray tell, would you have known that?" damn, she would need to pat herself on the back later, that tone was just perfect.

L on the other hand was trying to read Hope with varying levels of success.

'Easily rilled up and impatient. Suspicion decreased to two precent. Was she not aware of the surveillance or is she pretending that she wasn't? Either way I won't get anywhere like thins.'

"As you are aware I am investigating Kira. And, as part of that investigation, I had several families affiliated with the police put under surveillance," he told her, watching for her reaction.

"The hell would you do that," but she stopped abruptly, giving herself a moment's pause to look as though she was thinking. "You suspect the police…and thus their families," she said in a flat voice.

"Yes," was his simple and straightforward reply, not even blinking as he looked at her when telling her this.

The duo was basked in silence for a while, L finishing his sundae and ordering a slice of strawberry cake with coffee. Hope on the other hand made it look like she was pondering the situation, looking to be absentmindedly playing with her fork and cake with an unfocused gaze.

"Oy Hope. How much longer are we going to stay here? I'm bored," Ryuk complained and she hummed nonchalantly.

Closing her eyes briefly the girl leaned back into her seat before finally looking back at the detective across from her.

"Well, at least you confirmed that you are part of the police, if not L himself. Though, on the other hand you could be just an excessively creepy stalker that broke into my house. So? What is this meeting about?"

'Yagami Hope…She demonstrates high levels of maturity for someone her age presented with such a situation, despite her impatience' L made a mental note as he carried on eating.

"Ah, you don't really need to do this but if you wouldn't mind I would like to test your deductive skills," he explained, watching was she mulled over this.

"That's more Light's thing but all right. Hit me," and damn she would need more cake if she was going to put up with this.

"Thank you very much," and here he rummaged in his pockets and produced three labelled photos and a sheet of paper.

Picking up the photos first she made a show of checking the reverse before arranging them in the 'proper' order after having taken her time reading them.

'Damn this is so obvious. Then again I am dealing with the human incarnation of Kakashi's famous look underneath the underneath advice. I can't let my guard down.'

"I would like you to tell me what you can deduce from these," the male prompted and she frowned.

"This is a message. A surprisingly simple one, though…are there more photos you haven't given me?" she asks hesitantly.

"Why would you ask that?" and Hope couldn't tell if he was curious or…disappointed? Alas, she wasn't here to play his game.

But _he was here_ because _she wanted it_.

Honestly, how brazen of a puppet to go against its master.

'Will you cut your strings and use them to strangle me? Or will you forever play to my tune L?'

"Well this message doesn't make much sense. L did you know love apples? Shinigami…However, if you arrange them like this, ignoring the labels on the back, will get: L, did you know? Shinigami love apples. Now _those_ are proper sentences," she explained easily, leaning back while taking another piece of cake.

"I'm impressed you thought of the possibility of another letter, yes, it would be this one," he tells her, bringing out a new photograph. Causing the message to become:

L, did you know love apples? Shinigami have red hands.

"The hell is this supposed to mean?" she questions squinting at the photos in disbelief.

'No reaction other than confusion. Is that because she wasn't the one to have the inmates write the message or because her acting is that good?'

"What do you make of this list Yagami-chan," he asked instead, ignoring her question in favour of pinning her with one of his absent-minded looks. Ha, like she was that easily fooled.

"Just call me Hope. Too many Yagami running about for such formality. Plus you apparently spied on me anyway," the last part was grumbled as she looked aver the file. "What is this list exactly Ryuga-san?"

"Pardon me. That is a file of all the FBI agents which were killed by Kira. They all received a file containing each agent's name and photograph."

"Hmm…why were they sent these files?"

"The director sent it before dying of a heart attack," here she looked up sharply at L and gave him a surprised look before returning to the papers and 'thinking'.

"Heart attack is Kira's M.O…could he possibly control people's actions before death? But if _he_ had the director send the files…does Kira need their names, or faces to kill somebody?" she asked, sounding more like a child unsure of their answer and waiting for their teacher's verdict. But that was alright. She wasn't the twin that helped solve cases. That was confident in her detective deductions. That was Light.

"And if I give you this…" L said, producing another similar list he hands to her and she couldn't help but cock an eyebrow at him.

Picking it up she quickly scanned it before focusing on one name in particular.

"Why's my father's name here? I recognise some of these…" she trailed off in further confusion. Looking at the male before her for an explanation.

"All the people on that list have been sent the exact same file as the FBI agents at the same time," he explained and her mouth formed the smallest 'o' shape as she mulled over the information before a dark look crossed her face.

"Kira is either related to the police in some way, increasing the chance they had access to the files they were sent or he is using the police to cover up their identity," she concluded, nose scrunching up in irritation as she looked at the paper in her hands. Or rather at the very first name. Her father's.

Meanwhile, L hadn't taken his eyes off her and was busy analysing her behaviour.

'Her deductive abilities are certainly sharper than most people's, though she appeared unsure of her answers. Is that real or not? …Not. Is she nervous or purposely pretending?'

"Well?" Hope prodded, looking at L with narrowed eyes. "You just going to sit there staring or say something. Is my father in trouble? Is that why he hasn't come home recently?" she fires rapidly. Fidgeting with her spoon.

'Hmmm…nervous behaviour. Rapidly fired questions, slightly hysterically; Worried? It would match the information so far. A caring daughter and sibling that worries over her family…'

"No. Your deduction is spot on. That is what we think so far as well…Well then, if you wouldn't mind carrying on; I have a final question for you: how would you go about finding out is a suspect was Kira?"

And Hope paused. And thought. And then she answered:

"I would try to trick Kira into telling me information only he would know. Kinda like you Ryuga-kun," she told him, unable to fully mask a hint of malice from her tone. Not something your general person would notice. But this was not your run-of-the-mill guy. 'Wonder what he would make of that? I really can't afford to make such rookie mistakes,' she mused as she locked eyes with the young detective.

"Hmmm…I asked the same questions of the investigators and they all took a long time to come up with an answer…I would like to ask you not to share this conversation with Light-kun," L requested, sipping his drink—which was really flavoured sugar at this point.

"…You are going to interrogate him as well," she stated placidly. Not showing any outwards signs of protest.

"Yes," the male replied easily eliciting a snort out of Hope.

"You admitted to that so easily," she explained, shaking her head lightly as she pushed her now empty plate to the side.

"Would you have preferred I hide it from you?"

"No. I guess that would be a bit pointless…very well I'll keep it a secret for now…Is my father alright?" she asked again, genuine concern in her voice for the man who helped raised her.

"Yagami-san is alright, you needn't worry," L reassured, allowing silence to once again dominate their little corner of the café till their waitress arrived, gathered their plates and they paid for what they consumed.

Upon exiting the shop they briefly paused outside to bid their goodbyes. Which should have been the end of it for now had the male not said one last thing:

"I couldn't help but notice that you always referred to Kira as a male Hope-san."

"Oh? Hmm, I suppose I have. Guess one naturally associates such things with males," she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"That is a terribly reductionist mentality. Women are just as capable of the things Kira has done," L said before turning and walking in the opposite direction she was needed to go. Ryuk quietly sniggered at his reply, teasing Hope before she too resumed her walk once she could no longer see the male.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

'Yagami Hope.

The chance you are Kira is less than one percent at this point…yet my gut tells me not to ignore you.'

 **—.—.—.—.—**

'L.

What will you do now? Will I remain a suspect? Will Light become the lead suspect once again? Is it fate that you and Light should collide?

The puppets have taken their positions and I must ensure I do not get their strings tangled.'

Hope thought before a snort left her lips and she allowed a smirk to bloom on her face

'Though, that might be too late. We are _all_ intertwined with one another. And it is the duty of the puppet master to maintain control. To still know what string to pull on to make their puppets move accordingly.'

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Light's turn at the interrogation café was due to be the next day. If the fact that Ryuga requested a tennis match against him was any indication.

So naturally Hope being the caring twin that she was offered to be the referee. Which Light thought unnecessary but she insisted. It did not require immense brain power to deduce which twin got their way as they both made their way to the college's tennis court. Meeting with L en route.

"Ah good morning Yagami-kun, Hope," the male greeted, his casual way of addressing her startling Light and causing him to frown from one individual to the other while Hope patted his shoulder sympathetically.

It was hard being the brother of such cute sisters. Light couldn't help where his thoughts went.

"Are you ready for the match Ryuga-kun?" and while she would never say no to teasing Light on any other day, the way he tensed and was eyeing L made her take pity on her overprotective sibling.

"Ah, as ready as I can be. What about you Yagami-kun?" the dishevelled male inquired.

"I am fine Ryuga. Though I feel the need to warn you I have some tennis experience," he replied rather testily.

"No worries Yagami. I placed first in England's junior tennis championships," L replied nonchalantly.

'May the male cock measuring begin,' Hope thought, unable to stop rolling her eyes as she took her position in the referee chair. Wisely choosing to stay out of their polite _posturing._

"Oho, Light looks irritated," Ryuk commented. Doing a fantastic job in stating the obvious.

"He's bothered by L," she told the shinigami. Hiding her mouth behind her hand as she pretended to yawn.

"Hm?" the death God prompted, looking in her direction expectantly. Or at least Hope learn to read it like such in certain situations. Ryuk's face never truly changed. Much like a mask.

"Ryuga addressed me by my first name only, while he used my brother's surname," the girl explained in a whisper. Head prompted in her hand as she waited for the guys to start the match.

"Is that a problem?"

"No. I told him to just use my first name. However that was not the case for my brother. And now he is wondering when did we have time to get close enough for this to happen."

"Ah. Quite the overprotective kind that Light, gyuk, gyuk," Ryuk teased, his grin exposing his sharp teeth.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

"Yasunaga-senpai! A pair of freshmen are using the court," the young male shouted as he ran towards his colleague.

"Recruits for the club?" the teacher questioned.

"It's…It's them! Yagami Light and Ryuga Hideki!"

"Never heard of them."

"Haven't heard of them? It's the two that got perfect scores on the entrance exams," the male commented in surprise.

"High scores? Big deal," he dismissed leaving the younger male speechless.

"… It's actually kinda scary, the way they've always been together since…"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyways, I'll give them a talking to. Unauthorised use of club facilities is not allowed.

Have an audience do we?" the bespectacled teacher stated nonchalantly as he got up and made his way to the tennis courts. His kohl dutifully following behind.

"Er…there wasn't anyone here three minutes ago…" the longer male muttered when they reached their destination. Slightly amazed at the gathered crowd.

"A competition between the highest scores. It really grabs your attention. The news probably spread like wildfire," his senpai stated. "It'd be great if we could get them to join the tennis club….huh! Are-are these guys really amateurs?" he asked in shock. Taking in the match before him with new eyes.

"Ahh! Yasunaga-senpai! I thought the name Yagami sounded familiar so I looked him up. Turns out he placed first in the national junior in 1999 and 2000. In his third year he quit, saying something about playtime being over. He hasn't competed since," the male finally explain what has been on the tip of his tongue since he first did research on the boy. His explanation was created by awe from the gathered crowd who murmured to one another.

"Kya~ but, I wonder; Who is that Ryuga then! If he can keep up with a junior champion he must be…" not that she ever got to finish her babble as she retreated into her dream world. Face clasping her own face in giddiness while her friend stared tiredly at her.

"Kyoko…"

"I don't know. I haven't found anything on Ryuga," the young instructor said.

"Pft, who cared about those dudes. I'm more curious about that babe over there keeping score," one of the guys commented. Elbowing his friends as they redirected their gaze towards Hope. Drinking in her appearance as long, bare, legs entered their field of vision as she stretched in the referee chair.

"Assholes already have their own cheerleader…top grades and the girls. That is so not fair," another complained.

"But isn't that Yagami's sister?" the girl calming Kyoko mentioned.

"Eh Yagami has an older sister?"

"No, a twin," the same instructor from earlier interjected, gathering the teens' attention. "She was always mentioned in the articles Yagami-kun was. She was apparently a prodigy within the martial arts world. An international champion," he said and noted as the gathered males visibly deflated at the news. Some even averting their eyes from her and taking a subconscious step back.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

She really shouldn't find it so surprising. People are notoriously known to have nothing to do with their lives and the crowd watching the match were simply another piece of evidence attesting to that.

Alas, she preferred to ignore their existence and focus on the—'oh.'

"Six-four. Light wins," she called, watching as the boys collected their breath and shook hands.

Ignoring the cheering crowd, was she the only one that found said habit distasteful(?), she made her way towards the boys. Unable to help from noticing a distance difference between them: Light was drenched in sweat while L looked barely any different. Wilder hair but he was clearly the fitter of the two.

'He held back,' Hope noted as she threw Light the towel she collected from his back on the way.

"I take you two are too tired for a match with me?" she pouted childishly, winking when Light gave her an unimpressed look.

"Ah you play tennis too? We should also play a game together sometime," L replied, approaching the twins.

"Hope was never much for tennis," Light interjected as she got ready to reply.

"Geee, just because I'm not on your level," she told them as they neared the gates to exit.

"You never cared enough about it to play better," her brother corrected causing Hope to roll her eyes.

"I'd love to take you up on that offer sometime Ryuga-kun," she toll L before Light could interject further and took pleasure in the way her brother narrowed his eyes in suspicion and looked at the two of them.

"Ah, sometime," the detective agreed. "I would also like to have a word with you Yagami-kun," he added at the end.

"Very well. My throat is quite parched, there is a nearby cafe we can go to. I also have some things I want to discuss with you," the older of the twins stated.

"Hey you two," a new voice interrupted the trio, causing them to pay attention to the bespectacled man approaching them. "You two," he repeated, ignoring the unimpressed Hope, "Are you two going to join the tennis club?" he demanded, looking simultaneously irritated and hopeful. Huh, strange man.

"No I am not interested," L stated bluntly, cleaning his ear with his pinky finger. The embodiment of lackadaisical.

"Ah, unfortunately I would not have the time to join. I barely have time for leisure games every now and then," came Light's more formal reply coupled with his dazzling, 'I'm-too-innocent-and-puppy-like' smile.

And that was that as the teens walked past the now just irritated instructor and made their way through the parting crowd.

"Aaah, such a pity. Guess it can't be helped. Tough watching them makes me want to play as well," the tracksuit wearing instructor was heard mumbling as they passed by him.

"Hey Light," Hope suddenly said, gaining both her brother and the detective's attention. "You two go and have your chat. I want to do something so can I borrow your tennis equipment?" adding a pout for good measure she inserted a pretty please at the end when the silence stretched for too long.

Caving in, Light handed over his bag with a sigh and a warning to not do something stupid before resuming his walk with L.

"Oy what you up to Hope?" the currently ignored shinigami butted in, face brought close to hers as she turned around and made her way to the young instructor.

"Sensei," she created him, drawing the attention of the remaining stragglers. "I couldn't help but overhear…but would you mind playing a game with me? Light and Ryuga-kun set off to drink something and I feel the urge to have myself after watching them play," she told him sweetly, watching in satisfaction as the tip of his ears turned pink and slowly spread to the rest of his face as he mumbled till eventually agreeing and going to get his own racket.

This development, of course, proved interesting enough for those that stayed behind to continue doing so. Curious enough about the lesser known Yagami and wanting to see if she was as good as her brother.

"Hoooope," Ryuk carried on winning, "why can't we just go home?"

"Ara, ara, gotta play with other as well from time to time Ryuk. I'm a college student now," the girl told him softly when her back was facing the audience.

Eventually the instructor returned, bringing with him a racket and some spare tennis balls, took his place across from her and prepared to serve.

"Shall we start Yagami-san?" he inquired, taking a moment to serve after receiving a confirmatory nod only to gape in surprise when, instead of hitting it, Hope caught it in her hand.

"My apologies sensei, but I forgot to mention something. I may not be on the same level as my brother…but please do take this match seriously," she told him, making eye contact with him behind her bangs, a smirk curling at the corners of her mouth.

She then threw up the very same ball she previously caught and hit it as it got to the ideal height, watching in satisfaction as it landed once on the floor before shooting past the instructor's head. Too fast and close for him to react in time.

"Fifteen-love," the girl sing-songed.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Her father had a heart attack and was hospitalised and nobody told her. Nobody even bothered to tell her till Light got home.

Nobody called.

Yes, Hope was annoyed if anyone hadn't caught on to that.

So she truly was not feeling like having a secret conversation with her brother right now.

Only here she was, sitting on the floor of his room, back leaning against his bed with him sitting to her right. Both giving the other a moment or two to gather their thoughts.

"We are both suspects in the Kira investigation," Light admitted, staring at the wall in front of him, not facing his sister.

"Yes we are. Told you being smart will come bite us in the ass one day," she muttered half-heartedly.

"This isn't a matter of amusement Hope," Light hissed, finally turning to look at her.

"I know it isn't. Hell…dad's in the hospital because of this case and the stress of it all," she retaliated equally pissed.

She knew from before that this case will put immense stress on her father. She wished he weren't so stubborn and foolish as to carry on with it.

But he wouldn't be Soichiro if he didn't do that.

And she came too far to stop now.

She wasn't a good enough human being to do that.

The twins once again allowed silence to fill the room as they sat side by side, stubbornly avoiding each other till Light eventually caved in and grabbed her hand.

"It'll be fine," he reassured, squeezing her hand, "Kira _will_ be caught. _I'll_ catch them," he said determinedly and Hope hid her face in his shoulder. Allowing Light to let go of her hand in favour of wrapping his arm around her.

"Yeah…if anyone could catch Kira it would be you…after all…you're my _brother_ ," she told him softly.

And just like Light didn't see the look on her face she didn't catch the emotions which flickered in his eyes as he squeezed her closer to him, leaning his cheek on her head.

"I'll always protect you Hope," he muttered in her hair.

"And I'll always protect you," she muttered in return, hands finally wrapping around his middle.

'No matter what.'

 **—.—.—.—.—**

The next day Hope skipped her morning classes in favour of visiting her father in the hospital. Sneaking in a fresh cup of coffee and some pastries past the sour nurse who clearly needed a pick-me-up of her own.

Entering, she shouldn't have been surprised to see the news channel turned on and a newspaper in Soichiro's hands.

"You really don't get the meaning of a break do you?" she teased the man as she entered, a smile spreading from her to him when he registered who she was.

"Hope, shouldn't you be in school?" he told her, not truly breathing her.

"Mah, mah, what do you know about my timetable. Plus I didn't hear in time to see you yesterday," she told him, nearing the bed and leaning down to press a kiss to the man's temple.

"How are you feeling daddy?" she asked him, pulling out the tray from the side of his bed and placing the good she brought him on it.

"I'm feeling better, you don't need to worry and I told your mother not to bother you as well after she called Light," he said, gratefully taking a sip of the drink, unable to keep the smile off his face.

He had good children.

The best.

And he wouldn't permit their names to be tarnished by this case.

"How can you think of it as bothering," she berated, pulling the plastic chair closer and peaking at the article he was reading. "The world of politics remains an eternal waste of time in my mind," she announced, watching her father snort in amusement.

"Doesn't stop you from arguing with the best on such matters," he countered.

"And winning," she finished, grinning.

"That you do," her father conceded, taking a break from reading to look over his eldest daughter.

"You and Light have grown up so fast," and wasn't that true? Ah, Soichiro suddenly felt so old.

"But hopefully grew up not people you and mother can be proud of."

"Never a moment when we weren't," he said seriously, eliciting a snort out of Hope.

"Ara? Even when I didn't take school seriously?" she teased, recollecting the times she received a low grade on a particular test.

"Always," Soichiro re-affirmed. Stretching out his hand to grab one of Hope's.

"You and your siblings are mine and your mother's pride and joy. _Never forget_ that," he told her seriously. Promising himself at the same time to take better care of them. Especially with things being the way they were.

"Gyuk, gyuk, you have such a concerned and loving father," Ryuk snickered beside Hope. "Doesn't even suspect his daughter of being Kira."

Ignoring Ryuk was an art she proudly proclaims to have perfected.

"Father…I had a chat with L and so did Light as you already know," she told him. Successfully switching the topic and changing the atmosphere in the entire room.

"Ah..yes, L, or Ryuzaki as we call him," Soichiro commented, coughing to clear his throat and retracting his hand.

"Hope…the task force investigation is looking into the families of the investigators which may have had access to certain information. You and Light aren't the only ones that have been investigated…I'm sorry it got to this."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. I talked with Light about this and I more or less understand the situation and it can't be helped. I'm not mad. Well I am. But not at you. Rather this whole situation which not has gotten you in hospital. Light is also thinking of joining the investigation… your _son_ is too pigheaded," Hope said.

"Language. And you shouldn't be surprised. He's your _brother_ ," Soichiro teased, some tension leaving his face.

Getting up, Hope insisted on arranging his pillows, because: "this is an unacceptable position," stayed as few more minutes to talk before finally leaving after she fished out a pencil from her bag and handed it to the man.

"You haven't done a crossword in a while," she explained when he raised an eyebrow before placing a final kiss on his temple and picking up the now empty coffee cup on her way out.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

"Hehe, it'll break his heart when he learns the truth," Ryuk stated once they were outside.

"When he learns the truth? Hmm, I suppose that's not impossible. And that would certainly be true but I'm prepared for that outcome as well. After all…I don't suppose a person who picked up a death note can expect luck to follow them around. And certainly not me," she replied nonchalantly.

"Gehehe, I guess that's true…you certainly make…a fine shinigami," he complimented, his words carrying a hint of foreboding as he continued following her while they walked down the well-lit street.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Ten criminals in the world dropped dead simultaneously on the ninth of April.

Ten more followed the next day.

And the next.

And the next.

The task force once again was working around the corner as three more days of the same pattern followed.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

It was a normal April evening in the Yagami household with the exception that Soichiro was still at the hospital and Sachiko was there keeping him company.

Meaning the only ones present, and subsequently lounging in the living room, were the three siblings in various degrees of boredom. Till Light switched to the news channel, after stealing the remote from Sayu, and being the broadcast from outside os Sakura-TV's studios where a news reporter was commenting on a collapsed body.

"Ack!" Sayu squealed, suddenly more alert and subconsciously leaning closer to Light.

"That's…" she tried to say unsuccessfully.

"Kira," Light said, eyes practically glued to the television and watching transfixed all the way till a van crashed into the studios before the broadcasters were ordered to move as fully equipped police officers began flooding the scene and created a barrier around the studio entrance.

"Amazing," their little sister gushed and the older siblings nodded their agreement.

"Eh, so it began," Ryuk commented as he floated behind the couch, casually eating an apple since the other two Yagami siblings were too preoccupied to notice the floating fruit.

'Misa has made her first move.'

 **—.—.—.—.—**

A response video under Kira's name was made by the police and broadcasted on Sakura TV n the twenty-fourth of April.

Of course the general public couldn't know that said tape was fake and Hope only knew the truth because she _was_ Kira.

Though she had to applaud her brother's script. He made a convincing Kira.

"You really aren't bothered by this situation at all," Ryuk commented while Hope typed away on the library's computer.

"Bothered? About what? Let Misa have her fun. I'll make sure to contact her and if she proves to be an enemy… well I already know who I'm dealing with."

"Hmm, what is that you doing? Finding more criminals to kill?" the shinigami inquired.

"No, I have the next twenty days all planned out. Here, have a better look," the girl offered. Not minding when the large death god leaned forward to look at her screen.

"Ooh! Isn't that?"

"Yes. Amane Misa's personal information. It truly is a scary world this one. Just a bit of money and someone can find out all there is to know about you without asking any questions," she explained, lazily coping the information down.

"Ryuk."

"Hm?"

"I'm aware you are not on my side, or anyone's for that matter. However…you do care about your fun correct?" she asked, leaning back in her chair to look up at the shinigami's face.

"That's right," he agreed, his eyes pinned on her, allowing Hope to see herself reflected in them.

"Would you be willing to hide from Rem if you spot her then?"

"Hmmmm…if you buy me more apples I'll think about it."

"I'll throw in a whole apple pie," she promised.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

The evening of May the twelfth was marked by several TV stations showcasing a 'diary page' from the second Kira to the first and by Light returning home late.

"I'm back!" the boy greeted upon entering the house.

"You're late Light," their mother helpfully pointed out though his reply nearly caused her to fall into a fit of laughter.

"…I went out with my girlfriend. I'll introduce her to you next time," which was of course treated with surprise by their mother and absolute glee by Sayu who abandoned the drama they were watching in favour of pestering Light for more information.

"Onii-chan has a girlfriend! That's amazing!"

"Ah, Sayu should try harder getting a boyfriend," the boy teasingly retaliated as he made his way to the living room.

"Eh! I'm not trying to get a boyfriend!" the girl squeed, flustered at the topic change. "Plus! Nee-chan doesn't have a boyfriend either!" she said, trying to redirect the attention from herself.

"I'm too fabulous for the peasants out there," Hope shoot without missing a beat, ducking as Sachiko reached to lightly hit her head.

"Enough with your teasing. Dinner Light?" she asked the boy, considering the three of them have already eaten.

"Ah no need. I had room service at the hotel," he told them casually while throwing himself on the couch. Disturbing Hope. Action which costed him his lap as she relocated her feet there.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Television turned off, mother in bed and little sister taking a bath meant the twins had a window of solitude. Hence why they were currently in Hope's room with the latter sprawled on the bed and Light sitting at her desk.

"Sooo, you and Ryuga admitted your crush on one another and are going out?" Hope asked, breaking the silence.

It was a testament of how used he was with her that Light barely batted an eyelash at her.

"Have you seen the TV broadcast?" he asked, not needing to ask how she figured out where he truly was.

"The diary thing?" she asked.

"Yeah…this second Kira seems very childish," he commented off-handedly and Hope couldn't help the way her eyes sharpened at the tone.

"Hmm, they do seem more juvenile, though, removing the possibility of it being an act would be foolish no?" she said, ignoring the way Ryuk was laughing. Taking pleasure from the situation.

"The thirtieth is so obvious that it seems pointless to even have made all the other entries," Light stated, picking up a pen and playing with it.

"Meaning it's likely not the real meeting location. That is, if we assume this Kira is not as stupid as they portray themselves to be."

"I'll be going to Aoyama with a group of friends from University. Would you like to go?" he asked, changing the topic. Or so it seemed.

"Gyuk, gyuk. Think he suspects you?" Ryuk asked Hope.

"When?"

"The twenty-second."

"Can't. I have a date." Shocking both Light and Ryuk.

"Wh—"

"What? You can have a girlfriend and even take her to a hotel but I can't have a date?" she teased, refusing to give more details when asked and not dodging in time when Light tackled her, proceeding with the tickle torture method.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

The day before the twenty-second Hope went up to one of her classmates that happened to be in the judo club, charming him away from the group he was with; pretending it was too embarrassing to ask him with everyone there.

To sum it all up, the girl was able to leave, having secured a date for the next day with an overjoyed guy who wasted no time in bragging to his friends.

Ah, it was nice being able to count on guys every now and then. Especially when you wanted it to be known that you were doing something _away_ from Aoyama.

Speaking of which. With all that was happening Hope hadn't had a chance to set up the next sequence of deaths and today would mark the final day of her three deaths a day period.

Hmp, she really shouldn't neglect that for much longer.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Her date was predictable but it did the job and she was nowhere near Aoyama while Misa was there. Instead, she spent the day going from the movies to a restaurant and tried to at least enjoy the day, which, to a certain extent, she dis.

There were, of course, the rather blatant hints he kept giving her about how he hoped this date would end. Only for him to be disappointed when she opted to return home after they finished eating.

Pity.

But he did ask her on a second date and it was always easier to have guys like him on hand for when she needed them so she accepted.

However, she was definitely choosing the movie next time.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Two days later found her walking to the dojo. The very same one she went to since she was a little girl and had begun neglecting in the past months.

That wouldn't do. She would not permit herself to fall behind. It would be downright embarrassing.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

"I'm bored," Ryuk loudly complained in the empty house. "Can't we play Mario carts? Nobody is home."

Of course he chose the moment Hope was writing in the notebook to pester her.

"What are you even planning this time?" he asked, leaning over her shoulder as she finished her sentence and put the pen time.

"Nothing much, boredom getting to me as well. I feel a bit vindictive. Maybe even careless…Honestly you would expect the task-force to be more reliable…at least I was," Hope complained, scrolling at the ceiling.

"Let's play before Light or mother return."

 **—.—.—.—.—**

The day of the Shibuya meeting came and with it the death of eight inmates. The task force was spread all throughout Shibuya in hopes of possibly identifying either Kira only to end the day with no results.

"Ryuzaki," Watari called, as he approached the younger male, a stack of files in his hands.

"These were just faxed in. There have been eight more deaths," the old man explained as L took the files from him to look over them.

'What game are you starting this time?' he wondered, thinking of the first Kira's personality and need for patterns.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Today was to be an interesting and very important day. A rare chance.

A photoshoot for the June issue of the eighteen magazine was taking place conveniently close enough to the university that it wouldn't be completely odd for Hope to go there. Especially considering she had a bit of a shopaholic status and the location was full of unique boutiques.

So a chance encounter suddenly increased in likelihood.

After all, she purposefully missed the Aoyama meeting as well as the Shibuya one. So, by this point, Misa must have either thought she was an idiot or uninterested. Both unideal things in the grand scheme of things.

However, today would be the day her and Misa Amane would finally come face to face. Only it will be Hope that approaches the girl; not the other way around.

Of course this plan also relied heavily on Ryuk possessing her from afar so Rem did not see him. Especially now when she couldn't see the other shinigami.

Something which cost her heavily in apples and various other apple goods.

Now, ensuring the hat she wore covered the top half of her face she picked up a cup of coffee to go and went 'browsing' till she arrived closer to the square where the camera equipment was being set up.

A quick scan of the location revealed that Misa had still not made her appearance or was inside one of the vans getting ready.

Thankfully Ryuk was happily munching on one of the rooftops staying out of sight so all Hope really had to do was wait around.

Which wasn't terribly exciting mind you. But it did pay off when a bright splash of gold entered her field of vision.

Thus, shopping and phone in one hand, coffee cup in the other, Hope made her way towards the quickly approaching girl while making it seem like she was too distracted to pay attention to where she herself was walking. Action which resulted in the inevitable.

A collision.

One that ended up with spilt coffee and minor loss of balance for both parties. So it was only natural that instinct would kick in and the first reaction one would have is to reach out and grab onto something.

In this case each other. And, in this case, Hope also happened to have a fragment of the notebook hidden in between her fingers.

"Hey watch where you're going!" the blonde loudly complained, regaining her balance and pulling her arm back only to stifle a scream when Ryuk landed behind Hope.

"I don't still need to hide do I?" he asked while finishing his fruit.

"You—you are, then you," the older girl fumbled, completely blindsided.

"I'm sorry we had to meet like this. Unfortunately, the police are all over your correspondence and the lead detective is not an opponent to be underestimated," Hope explained quietly, making a show of dabbing her shirt and offering a handkerchief to Misa as well who dazedly took it, her eyes fixated just slightly above her head.

"You're Kira," she muttered, eyes wide and movements slow. Giving the girl an encouraging smile Hope waved hopelessly around herself.

"I'm not what you expected am I?" she asked, waiting patiently for Misa to finish processing the situation and actually say something. Which was becoming just the tiniest bit annoying as she was just standing there staring.

Then the squealing came. Quite literally as Misa threw herself at Hope, attracting a good deal of attention.

"Ah, Misa can't believe this. You found her. I thought I might have missed you or that you didn't care but that wasn't true and hey, how did you find Misa? Ah! Do you have the eyes as well? Oh and is that your shi—" there was something frightening about an excited woman. Unfortunately for the blonde, Hope wasn't too keen of such public displays.

"Sorry Misa-san, but I would rather not discuss that in public. Too many pairs of eyes and ears around," she explained while Ryuk stared at the two, snickering.

"Of course! Ah, your right…Yagami…Hōfu?" which prompted a snicker of the brunette.

"My name is Hope, pleasure too meet you—"

"Misa!" well, the girl supposed it was only fair to get interrupted as she herself interrupted the blonde previously.

"Ruko-chi!" Misa greeted happily, waving the woman over.

"What are you doing?! You aren't changed and they are ready to shoot and is that coffee? Who are you!?" well, people in this industry must have special training to speak so fast Hope decided as she attempted to introduce herself. Not that there was any point in trying as the woman grabbed Misa and proceed to drag her over.

"WAIT!" the blonde yelled, startling both females, and nearby people, as she regained possession of her arm and made her way back to Hope and looped their arms together.

"Hope-san is a friend, can't she stay and watch? Oh! You don't mind do you? Or if not we can just swap numbers or…" she began, slowing down when the younger of the three waved her hand.

"I wouldn't wish to be a bother to you Misa-san."

"You wouldn't be! Right Ruko-chi?" she asked the increasingly irritated woman who pushed her glasses up and was rubbing the bridge of her nose. Eventually the woman caved in and gave her go ahead, before going to inform the staff; with a final warning for Misa to hurry.

"Ah, will you stay? I can understand if you don't want to…" and here Hope paused for dramatic effect.

"If you are certain it wouldn't bother you, or Rem," she added at the end after Misa began happily pulling her along, only to pause and turn and give her a surprised look.

"You can see—"

"No, but we can discuss things after your photo shoot," she told the girl sweetly. Ignoring the way Ryuk laughed and grind to seemingly nothing. A good indicator of where the other shinigami was located.

"…very well. You can sit here and I'll go get ready," Misa said, attitude turning more serious for a moment as she surveyed Hope again.

Only this time Hope was willing to bet it was apprehension in the blonde's blue eyes she saw.

 **—.—.—.—.—**

"Misa…" Rem said, that one word filled with more emotion that she would otherwise put in a whole conversation.

Warning, suspicion and dread.

"Where is your notebook?" the shinigami inquired, finding itself feeling apprehension take root in its being.

"In my bag. Where it has been all this time; look," the blonde prompted as she opened her bag, showing that the notebook was indeed where she said it was.

"Did she have any way of touching it?"

"What do you mean? It was zipped shut," the girl replied whilst changing from her dress. Pity it was now stained. She liked it.

"Have you said anything or done anything that would lead her to learn of my identity?""

"You're with me all the time. You know I haven't. Didn't you just introduce yourself to that other shinigami? Maybe that's how she knew?"

"No. I did no such thing,"

"Hmmm," the blonde hummed to herself as she pulled on the stockings. "Well, I'm sure she'll tell us later…after all; _She_ came to find _me_ …kya! This is so exciting," she proclaimed, unable to help her giggling, ignoring the way Rem's only visible eye narrowed.

'This Yagami Hope. I don't like her.'

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Actually seeing the work put in creating the photographs that would later be printed in the magazines Hope enjoyed flipping through was an interesting experience.

And not because the girl found it particularly exciting to look at Misa being re-dressed and told to take various poses. But because said model got it into her mind that it would take way less time and be more fun if Hope herself joined in.

She didn't know what to be more mortified about. The fact that Amane Misa blindsided her or that she was so easily dragged and by a group of people and forced into changing.

Or even the fact that she was completely crap at this whole photo-shooting thing and it took a good couple dozen photos for her to even achieve a fraction of Misa's casualness about the whole thing.

Hope had to hand it to the girl. Regardless of how intelligent she truly was. Or how useful she could prove to be. The girl was undisputedly a people's type. And coupled with a more nasty personality her charm could have proved to be a dangerous edge for the girl. 'How interesting.'

 **—.—.—.—.—**

Original clothes back on her body, a couple of thanks later, some walking and a good few meters away from the photo crew allowed Hope's red face to finally achieve a more natural aspect.

The two girls remained more or less quiet after settling on a place to go, which ended up being Misa's home.

It was only once they were inside the condo, with the door shut behind them that said quiet was broken when Misa enthusiastically hugged the other female.

"I can't believe Kira is someone so close to my age! I thought you would be older. And a man perhaps," the model confessed, bouncing to what Hope discovered to be the kitchen.

"What do you want to drink? Misa has a lot of drinks—oh, or coffee, I think I have some tea somewhere too…" she trailed off as she searched her cupboards.

In all honesty Hope was more interested in analysing Misa's speech pattern and the third person she tended to fall to when addressing herself.

"I really thought that you might have tricked me when you said you wanted to meet but didn't show up in Aoyama. Or that Misa and Rem didn't pay close enough attention. Speaking off, how did you find Misa? And how do you know about Rem? It's been bugging her," the girl fired off without pause making even Hope require a moment to sort it all out in her mind. A small sound of triumph upon finding a half-empty tea box was also escaped the hyper blond's throat.

"Tea would be enough. As for everything else, wouldn't it be better to discuss that once you also settled down? I'll help out too," she offered then noticing the apples:

"May I take one of those? Ryuk's obsessed with them and will likely just take it when you aren't looking," she explained, ignoring said shinigami's indignant response.

"Hm? Oh, you're Ryuk! Go ahed. I don't really care…hmmm, you are a different kind of Shinigami than Rem—You said you can't see Rem right? Wait there," she said before dashing back out in the hallway, not waiting for Hope's response.

She returned a moment later with a black notebook in hand that she easily handed out to her. Something Hope took as a sigh of trust. Otherwise, the girl was far too oblivious about the world. And someone like that being a notebook owner was a somewhat uncomfortable thought.

Nevertheless, she accepted the offered book before turning her gaze to spot the hulking, white figure of Rem.

"Nice to finally _see_ _you,_ Rem," she greeted with a smile the shinigami answered with a frown.

"How do you know about me?" and seeing the irritation displayed by his fellow death god was the final straw for Ryuk. A round of gruff laughter followed that Hope expertly ignored whilst pouring the hot water in individual mugs before adding a tea bag and placing them on the table.

"Mah, mah, that's a bit of a mystery for me as well," she admitted once Misa finally sat down.

"What do you mean?" the female shinigami asked, visibly scowling at Ryuk.

"It mens I have knowledge I normally shouldn't have and I'm completely blaming it on the fact that whoever is in charge of souls and the like hasn't done a good job with me," she told them as if that was meant to explain everything. Which judging by Misa's blank face was not the case.

Oh well.

"As for your other questions: I wasn't the one to sent you the reply video, it was the police," she told the girl. Watching as her eyes widened and her mouth dropped.

"No way!"

"Unfortunately due to the situation I am in, contacting you myself that way would have been too risky," she explained.

"But you still found me…" the blonde pointed out in confusion.

"I already stated earlier that I know things I shouldn't, by that I meant that I know bits of the future. Not all that much but I did know of you and was waiting for a chance to approach you."  
"No way…so all this time Kira-sama knew about Misa…" and she didn't just sound breathless but she certainly looked to be dazed.

"I did. You are an interesting person Misa—aak!" she screamed, falling to the ground, chair and all from the force of the girl's tackle.

"To think that you wanted to meet me just as much as I wanted to meet you! I'm so happy." Tears were falling past her cheeks while Hope just wanted the room to stop spinning and the blond to stop talking in her damn ear.

"Ah…Misa-san, could you possibly get off me? I can't quite breathe like this."

"Oh? Aaa! I'm so sorry." And she quickly scrambled up to her feet looking frazzled and guilty and still far too emotional for Hope to deal with. Especially since she didn't have enough caffeine in her system.

"Don't be sorry, it's alright," the brunette waved off once she was standing again. "Also, please just call me Hope."

"Then you need to stop adding -san to Misa's name." And really who ever said Misa was subservient? Maybe because she wasn't Light? Either way, the girl was the type who knew what she wanted and went for it.

"That seems fair. Misa it is then," here she inserted her go-to nice smile. The one that said 'you-are-very-kind-and-I-am-so-grateful.'

"If I may Misa. I think we really should be finishing our discussion. I'm sure you have a lot you want to share and it is getting quite late."

"Ah you're right. Then let's go to my room, it more comfortable than this place," she said, indicating with her right hand the direction they needed to walk in.

Once the travelled across the girl's apartment and entered her room, the blond did a happy twirl.

"I still can't believe you are actually here. I wanted to meet you so badly." She confessed, eyes getting misty again so Hope thought fast.

Closing the distance in one long stride she reached out and engulfed the girl in a hug.

"I've wanted to meet you as well. I'm really glad we finally got around doing this. I've been _waiting_ for you."

* * *

 **A/N: First, allow me to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind words. They honestly made me so happy I can't even begin to properly describe the feeling. (It might also have to do with the fact that I am dead tired and my brain is not exactly functioning)**

 **I also want to tank you for your patience and apologise for the delay in getting this chapetr out. I was in quite the writing dry spell.**

 **Nevertheless I hope (pardon the pun) you enjoyed this chapetr and that it was worth the wait. Drop me a comment about what you thought? Did you even bother reading this far? Did you not fall asleep or bang your head against a hard surface in frustration?**


	5. First Move

The day of the stadium meeting was today and despite learning nothing from Aoyama and Shibuya L was still reluctant to believe this was the place the second Kira wanted to meet Kira.

He couldn't be stupid enough to believe Kira would actually show up with all the police patrolling the area and with their eyes set on the dome.

Of course there was the possibility that if the second Kira _was_ that stupid, and the first Kira believed that to be true, they might make an appearance if only to prevent the second one from being captured and reveal any information to the police.

There was also the matter of the original Kira breaking their killing pattern with the most recent number of victims.

The original Kira was obsessed with patterns and games, meticulous in how many people would die any given day. They would then take a break and a new pattern would emerge.

It wouldn't be surprising if they were purposefully doing this to throw them off. Or it could potentially be the work of the second Kira? They could be trying to earn the respect of the original… 'No, that can't be it. The second only cares about meeting the original and has expressed no desire to begin punishing criminals in Kira's name…Then the only explanation is that Kira was trying to communicate with—!'

It was downright juvenile and the fact he didn't notice earlier was worrying to L.

Twelve criminals on the twenty-sixth of May, four the next day, then fifteen, twenty-five and so far eight today. However, it was by no means the end of this run.

The message so far was clearly incomplete and was likely to be another dig at him: 'L do yo[u]…'

'Tsk, damn you Kira.' he thought angrily, yet, he was unable to shake off his instinct; 'I have a bad feeling about all of this,'

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

Misa was extremely happy. Words couldn't even begin to describe what she was feeling!

Not only was she able to meet her idol Kira, but they even became friends!

Who wold have thought Kira was such a nice girl?

And super talented. Misa paid someone to get her information on the girl ('It was only fair, she did that to Misa too.') and she couldn't believe it.

She was smart and went to To-Oh where she was studying psychology. Not to mention she used to be a world champion in judo.

She has a twin brother called Light that was helping out with the Kira investigation alongside their dad, (something Hope herself told Misa) as well as a younger sister and a stay-at-home mother.

Ah, thinking about the situation Hope was in… 'stupid police,' they should but out. Hope was steadily making the world a better place. Getting rid of all the people who waste precious space and resources.

And she even helped her dispose of all the evidence and told her what to expect. What to do in the worst case scenario. She was such good friend!

Misa was so excited to meet up with Hope that she could barely contain herself as she skipped down the girl's street, heading for her house, a shopping bag in her hand and the newest issue of eighteen safely tucked inside it as well.

"Aaa, hopefully Hope didn't get around buying the magazine yet, I really want to see her expression when she looks through it for the first time," she said wistfully, seemingly talking to herself when in reality it was with Rem.

She neared the house and slightly increased her pace to arrive quicker, ringing the doorbell and leaning backwards and forwards on her heels.

When the door opened she was ready to deliver one of her chipper greetings only to freeze upon meeting the eyes of none other than Yagami Light.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

Light was uncertain what to do about the situation he was in. All he did was open the door so his mother could stay enjoying tea with their father along with his sisters. Which was an increasingly rare occurrence.

What he didn't expect was for a blond girl to end up staring at him without saying anything even when he prompted her. It was actually highly uncomfortable.

"Light, who is it dear?" his mother's voice carried from the kitchen. 'Who was it indeed,' he wondered as well.

She wasn't from their neighbourhood, he didn't remember seeing her on campus…he had no idea who he was.

"Light did you not—oh, hello," Sachiko greeted, noticing Misa as she came closer to Light. It was a bit uncertain if the woman's appearance was what broke the spell cast upon the blonde, however, she finally broke eye contact.

And, with a reddened hair she sputtered something slightly unintelligible thought they clearly heard her mention Hope.

"Ah, you one of Hope's friends?" Sachiko asked, already edging backwards and turning her body towards the kitchen. "Hope! One of your friends is here to see you." Which would have been Light's cue to leave as well, only by the time he finished the pro con list regarding his curiosity Hope was already here and he might as well stick it out.

"Misa!" his sister greeted upon laying eyes on the girl, who for her part seemed to zoom in on Hope, saying something with her eyes that he was unable to decipher. His twin on the other hand took one look at the blond before eying Light for a while. Moment in which she reached some sort of conclusion if her slumbered shoulders and designated sigh were anything to go by.

"Misa, I see you meet my twin Light. Yes you can go for him," she explained and Light turned aghast eyes in her direction.

'What?'

He was pretty sure his mother was thinking the same thing and only Sayu, hovering a few feet back seemed to have the capacity to vocalise it.

"Come on in, what brings you over? I'm sorry my phone is upstairs if you called," she explained.

"Ah, pardon the intrusion and that's alright," then turning back towards Light and Sachiko she bowed deeply from her waist.

"I'm sorry for my previous rudeness. My name's Amane Misa, I'm a friend of Hope," she said quickly before turning back towards the other girl and rummaging in her shopping bag, bringing out a glossy magazine and hold it up in triumph.

"Did you get to buy the newest issue?" she asked excitedly, eyes sparkling and completely oblivious to the looks Hope was receiving from her family. (Including her father who was leaning back in his chair to see from the kitchen't opening.

"Oh, no I haven't gotten around to—"

"Yes! Misa wanted to see your face when you finally see it!"

"Is there something different about this edition?" Hope asked with patience born from having an exuberant little sister.

"Eeeh! Did you already forget. It's the issue with the photos from our joint photoshoot!"

'Oh.' Hope thought in the silence that followed the blonde's statement. Then she quickly thought of all the ways she could remove from this situation with her pride intact.

There was none. And what made it more embarrassing was the fact that it was her father who broke the silence. It didn't help that Ryuk was shaking with unsuppressed laughter while Rem was her usual apathetic self.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

Amane Misa was a bit weird but very cute and Sayu decided she liked her. Of course it had ample to do with the fact that the blonde clearly liked Light which gave her ample teasing material. If she were to complain abut anything it would be the fact that she made her a tad jealous.

Who was she? Who did she meet Hope? Ok the last one was explained by her elder sister but still!

It wasn't fair! She was older pretty and seemed to get along just fine with Hope who was spending less and less time with her.

Hell, she even had a photoshoot without her knowing! A photoshoot!

So Misa was weird, cute and made Sayu feel slightly jealous about her relationship with Hope.

But she was also very friendly so Sayu found herself charmed by the blonde either way.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

At the end of the day, after Misa successfully charmed her mother and sister, (Light and her father were less impressed though Soichiro found nothing wrong with the blonde) and the two were in her room, Misa harshly pulled Hope closer to her.

"You never told me how amazing Light is!" she whispered in her ear which resulted in the younger of the two to scoff.

"Don't tell me his god looks and Mr. Nice attitude charmed you already?" but Misa's starry look was reply enough.

"I guess some things are just fated," she sighed and Misa snapped to attention immediately but it was Rem which asked:

"What do you mean by fated?"

"Misa fell in love with Light even when she just saw him in my memories as well. Just seems like one of those things that wouldn't chance," she explained and the blonde squeezed in delight. Even Ryuk looked completely lost about the whole thing.

"Alright, alright. Enough about my future husband," she competed playfully, bringing her bag forward and rummaging through it. Doing a wonderful job of tuning out Hope's amused snort.

"Here," the blonde stated, bringing out a black notebook out of her bag and handing it over to the younger girl.

"And your room?"

"It's clean, it's clean," she waved off distractedly and Hope had a feeling it might not be as evidence free as the girl supposed. Alas, it was all in motion now, no point working further. If anything…this made things more exiting.

"Right, so you were saying something about this new nail polish you bought?" Hope inquired. Changing the subject after storing the notebook in the false bottom she created some time ago.

(The thing one could create whit a bit of time and plenty of boredom to spare.)

Nevertheless, Misa took to the new subject like a duckling to water and immediately revealed some twenty or so different nail paints amongst the silk and chiffon of her other purchases.

Hope picked out with her finger a particularly lacy red undergarment and directed a raised eyebrow towards the blonde whose reply was a saucy wink.

Well, Misa might not have been cut out to be a Kira. Not if she didn't just plan on being captured by the police really quickly; but she was a great girlfriend to have. Especially when you just wanted to act like a teenage girl and talk about useless topics such as make up and fashion.

Hope believed it was a must to look good while the world police was chasing you.

"Hey, mind if I call up my little sister? This would be the kind of thing she would love," she asked while trying to decide between two shades of blue.

"Course! The more the merrier," which was typically Misa's motto when it came to things like this.

And thus Yagami Sayu found herself in her elder sister's room, magazines spread about them, chatting about the most recent celebrity gossip and painting her nails a bright yellow.

Her sister and her friends were just awesome!

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

No more messages from the second Kira came. L could only conclude that the two made contact. Maybe the original even killed the second. It was impossible to tell at the moment.

But he was certain that is the two hadn't made contact then the second Kira would have tried to make contact by now.

To add to his annoyance and continual growing anger of the team Kira's message was looking to be another one of their farces: 'L, do you know…'

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

Misa's photoshoot was close enough to To-Oh that she thought it would be worth it to go see Hope and possibly Light. ('Ah~ he's so perfect')

So you can imagine her happiness when the first person she rain into after wandering around through the campus was indeed the male who was a recurrent character in her dreams.

"Light~!" she exclaimed happily, jogging up to the teen waving her hand excessively.

"Oh, Misa-san," he greeted back, looking taken back by her presence.

"I had a photoshoot nearby and thought I would pop by for a visit," she explained, smiling brightly at the other Yagami twin. His mother and sisters already liked her, and while she wasn't sure about the father she was sure it wasn't that bad of an impression. So now it was only a matter of showing Light they were meant for each other. Hope herself said their love was fated!

It was in that moment that she noted the male behind Light that was staring at her.

"Ah, hello!" Misa had to be nice. He might be one of Light's friends and no matter how weird (and slightly creepy) he was, she couldn't risk offending him. Not now when their relationship was still fresh and Light was more likely to side with the other boy.

Even when the male was still creepily staring at her and ignoring her greeting.

Moo, she had her work cut out for her.

"Ryuga," Light called out in exasperation, wondering where he went wrong in life to have to deal with this.

"This is my friend Hideki Ryuga," he introduced, mentally going over Hope's timetable and assessing the chance of her swopping in and saving him. No such luck, she was currently in a lecture on the opposite side of the campus.

Light wasn't however so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Misa once again zooming out and staring at a point above L's head.

Had he been such a horrible person in a past life that the heavens saw it fit to surround him by air headed people?

"I must say Yagami-kun that I'm jealous," L said, finally breaking the silence that threatened to cause Light to lose his cool. "I have been a fan of Amane-san's since the March edition of the eighteen magazine," he confessed, smiling almost abashedly.

'What?'

"Kyaa, thank you for your support!"

"Eh! Is that Misa-Misa?" a female voice that could often be heard in Ryuzaki's company (when he bothered to turn up on campus) asked in surprise. Something which caused a chain reaction that, before the trio knew it, had them surrounded by exited students.

After a minor incident where L clearly touched Misa's butt, and said girl's manager marched through the crowd with experience gained only from having to deal with similar situations far too often.

"Misa!" she exclaimed angrily, grabbing the girl by a wrist and dragging her away; "You are going to be late. _Again_. We don't have time for you to play."

"Sorry Yoshi. Ah, bye-bye Light," then, smilingly just remembering, "Ah! Tell Hope I said hi and I'll call her later, the company—ouch!"

The blonde never managed to finish her sentence as she was dragged further away, leaving Light to stare at the spot in which her figure disappeared and making a mental note to ask Hope about how she dealt with the girl.

"Is she Hope's friend?" L inquired curiously and, although his expression did not change, Light couldn't help tensing. Nothing was at it seemed with the young detective and the teen didn't like bringing his twin in discussions with him.

"Yeah." Short and not terribly informative.

It was better this way.

If he wanted to learn more he could come out and ask it himself.

Till then Light wouldn't offer out free information about Hope.

Even when she should have nothing to hide.

Of course life was not simple. Not since the whole Kira debacle started. (Which wasn't an entirely bad thing.) So Light shouldn't have been surprised when, on the way to the cafe, L received a phone call from Watari stating that Amane Misa was successful apprehended on suspicion of being the second Kira.

He shouldn't have been surprised.

Or at least that was what he would have liked being able to tell himself.

In reality.

He really wasn't surprised.

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

It was in-between two back to back lectures that Light managed to catch Hope. Ambushing her as she was about to enter the bathroom and demanding they talked.

"Oh-o, sounds bad," Ryuk snickered and the girl was tempted to turn around and glare at him. As it was Hope chose to stare at Light's grim expression.

Knowing he should be in a classroom at this point and knowing him not to be the type to enjoy bunking for the sake of it, nodded and made her way out of the building.

They walked to a whole other building on the campus. One whose corridors were for the most part empty and which was full of nooks they could hide in.

Once Light was happy they were not being spied upon, (a very real possibility considering their situation) went straight for the point:

"Amane Misa was here to see you." He was watching her expression carefully, waited for her to say something and when she didn't he carried on:

"She had just been arrested on the possibility of her being the second Kira."

Hope thought that might be the case when Light decided to drag her away and started his news with Misa. However that still didn't give her enough time to decide what to do.

Her brother was many things.

Arrogant. Pedantic. A bit of a snob. Had a dry sense of humour. Could charm the pants off of anyone. Caring. And above all, her twin.

But the one thing he was not was unintelligent. Sure he was very much a cut and dry sort of person that was very focused on academics which might give people the impression that he was rather guidable about the things about side of textbooks.

However that was far from the truth.

And, just like he could never fool her with his act she could never fool him with hers either.

It happened when you shared everything from the womb you developed in to the same crib and teething toys.

So if she tried to look surprised, appealed or even confused about the news regarding Misa she knew he wouldn't buy it.

Hell, Hope knew from the very beginning that the amount of time she could go around being Kira would not depend on L or the task force.

But on Light.

Would he bring her down or join her?

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

The team was appalled when they saw the state of Amane Misa. Minor protests were thrown around from the members of the Japanese force before begrudgingly accepting this was necessary to put an end to this madness.

It was, of course, significantly worse for Soichiro who immediately recognised the girl which came over at his house. It was worse because they all looked at him when L questioned Misa and Hope's relationship.

How long have they known each other? Have you seen her before the Kira case began? What can you infer about Amane's behaviour around Hope.

Soichiro was not the genius his son was. It was a truth he had come to terms with and with even brought him pride.

But he wasn't stupid.

He knew how this looked. He knew L would likely order Hope to be brought in and _he didn't know what to do_.

This was Hope. His first daughter. _His child_.

He knew his duty as a police officer. As a _human being_.

He knew if this was any other person he would _insist_ they be brought in for questing.

But this wasn't any random person. It was his child. The child who clung to his trousers when she was younger and they went outside. The child who constantly smiled at him and Sachico and looked after her sibling as though they were her children.

Hope was the girl who would get in trouble at school for stepping into a fight to defend a bullied child. She was the girl who would notice when he was tired and bring a blanket to cover him when she thought he was deep asleep.

She was the girl Sayu looked up to the most and tried to emulate no matter how much she denied that when asked.

She was the only one who Light saw as an equal and felt challenged by. Even when they thought themselves clever enough that their own parents wouldn't notice.

So why? When he knew how kind her heart was. Why was it that when L looked him in the eyes and asked if he thought there was any chance of Hope being Kira…

 _He couldn't say no._

 **—.—.—.—.—.—**

Misa revealed nothing of significance. Nothing which would give him a legitimate reason to bring either Light or Hope Yagami in.

It was driving him insane. Well…not really, but he was rather irritated.

There had to be something.

Something and everything will start to fit.

He could tell.

Amane Misa and Yagami Hope's friendship was new, as admitted by Amane herself.

They apparently meet on the twenty-second of May after Hope ran into her and the two decided to spend time together after Amane's photoshoot.

This was right before the Shibuya meeting. This would explain the lack of further contact from the second Kira. Not to mention that many materials found on the packets sent by the second Kira were found in Amane's room.

Frankly, L didn't doubt that Amane was the second Kira. She fit the personality aspect. It was only a matter of finding something to prove Hope was Kira. Or at least enough to have her confined.

It was true that he could also see Yagami Light as being Kira…however, Light was childish. Rather like himself and the first Kira. There was something vexing about them. Like a cat playing with a mouse. With Kira being the mouse while they were the mouse.

Yagami Hope appeared to be the more likely culprit and his gut instinct agreed.

He just had to find something.

Which was why all the information compiled about the twins was spread before him and on the available monitors.

Soichiro was understandably distressed about the whole situation and was not participating. All the better. As he was their father and his emotions would cloud his judgement anyway.

Yagami Light was a perfect student who never achieved anything below a perfect grade in his life. He used to be a junior tennis champion before quitting and was currently studying at To-Oh university.

His deducing abilities were extraordinary and he appeared to have a strong sense of justice and duty, like his father, which appeared so cheesy at times that L really couldn't believe it to be fake.

He was a model son and sibling with a particularly close relationship with his younger twin, Hope.

He had an increased ego which led him to become irritable should he feel as though he was losing or had lost. Yet even in such situations the teen could maintain his composure remarkably well.

Yagami Hope on the other hand appeared lees academically gifted than her twin with grades fluctuating but still staying within the high bands, never dropping below the seventy precent threshold.

She excelled in martial art, holding junior world titles across various forms of it and seen as a mud prodigy that was working on her eighth dan despite taking part in competitions less often after finishing her junior years and had taken part in no competition in the past two years.

She was actively involved in her family life and seemed to care a great deal about them. She did not display the same negative reaction towards Kira as the rest of her family.

She demonstrated to possess high deductive abilities of her own looked to be the more mature one of the twins. Giving things more thought that Light though she also appeared to be more impatient which was somewhat contradictory.

If Kira was determined to not get caught he knew no about of looking over this information will help him, however…

Kira showed a need to feel superior and perceived the situation almost like a game they were finding highly amusing. With that in mind, someone with such a personality will be bound to—

'That's it.'

"Everyone." L called to attention from were he was sitting, facing the monitor and more sure about his deduction than ever before.

"Please prepare yourselves, especially you Yagami-san," he advised, seeing said man's reaction reflected in the screens.

"Naomi-san, Aizawa-san, please move out to apprehend Yagami Hope."


End file.
